Winter Cinnamon Pavlova Recipe

I really wanted to make a lighter but still cosy dessert to serve after having people over for a roast dinner. If guests don’t feel stuffed after a roast, I don’t think we are hosting properly laughy face Despite this, I still want to serve a pudding so went with a pavlova which is lighter but made it wintery with a cinnamon meringue, blackberry compote, cinnamon Chantilly cream and caramel apples.

I had very romantic ideas of the photos I was going to take; I've been very inspired by Charlotte Jacklin‘s bow themed hosting, so I wanted the cake stand decorated with ribbons and beribboned place settings…But I added a bit too much caramel to the apples and only had time to snap a quick photo before the caramel started to run off the pavlova!

Serves 6-8

120 grams egg white (about 3 large eggs) 80 grams soft light brown sugar plus extra for apples 160 grams caster sugar plus extra for the blackberries 150 grams blackberries 3 or 4 Pink Lady apples 300ml double cream Ground sweet cinnamon Vanilla paste Butter 2 tablespoons icing sugar

You can make the components in any order really but I'd recommend making the apples first so they have the most time to cool, followed by the meringue then the compote and cream.

Meringue

Heat your oven to 200˚C. I use the Meringue Girls method of heating the sugar on some baking paper in the oven first for a few minutes (make sure the sugar doesn’t start to caramelise).

While the sugar is warming, whisk your egg whites to stiff peaks. I find a stand mixer with a whisk attachment easiest for meringues, but if you just have a hand mixer then that also works well.

Once the sugar has been in the oven for 5-7 minutes and your egg whites are ready, start adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time with the mixer on high speed.

Lower your oven temperature to 100˚ C.

Add 1½ tsp of vanilla bean paste and 1½ tsp of cinnamon to the meringue mix and keep whisking until thick and glossy. Take a little of the meringue and feel between your fingers; you shouldn’t be able to feel too many obvious sugar granules.

Heap your meringue onto a lined baking tray and form your pavlova shape. You can pipe this if you want to but I quite like a rustic shape to mine.

Bake your pavlova at 100˚ C for 45-55 minutes before removing it to cool.

Blackberry Compote

Place the blackberries in a small or medium saucepan and coat the bottom of the saucepan with water. Add sugar to dissolve into the water. I also added a splash of whiskey…!

Heat until the blackberries break down. Take off the heat and add a little vanilla paste if you want to.

Strain through a sieve and leave to cool down a bit so it is still pourable. If it ends up setting too much (like jam), you can always reheat the mixture and add some water to loosen it.

Caramel Apples

Peel and cut the apples into slices about 3-5mm thick. Add a good amount of butter (you can just eyeball this) to melt into frying pan and add the apples.

You want the apples to cook down and become softer, so that a fork easily slides into them. Stir as they cook to avoid burning. You can also add more butter and even water, as this steams the apples slightly.

When the apples are soft and have released some juice, add soft brown sugar to lightly cover the pan and apples and heat until it melts and starts to form a caramel.

Keep stirring to make sure the sugar doesn’t burn and then add about 50ml of double cream to thicken the caramel.

Add 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon and leave to cool. You can, also, add some vanilla extract/paste to the apples if you would like.

Cinnamon Chantilly Cream

Whip the remaining 250ml of double cream with 2 tablespoons of icing sugar, 1½ tsp of vanilla bean paste and 2-3 tsp of cinnamon to taste.

It’s best not to whip the cream too quickly so that you can stop just as it gets soft and fluffy.

Assembly

Layer the cream onto the meringue with a dip for the blackberry compote on top.

If you made the components in advance, you can gently microwave the compote until it is soft enough to pour but not hot enough to melt the cream!

Add the apple slices in a spiral starting from the outside and working your way in. Add the caramel on top of the apples and serve.

You can keep the pavlova in the fridge but this can soften the meringue a bit. It’s best to make each part in advance if you need to and then assemble within a couple of hours of serving.

I'd love to know if you try this recipe!