I make the pavlovas pillowy base in advance
To do this,
I start by whisking egg whites
What I'm waiting for
is the stage at which they form satiny peaks
then I patiently beat in my caster sugar one spoon at a time
Patience is not one of my outstanding qualities
But it's necessary here
I derive great satisfaction
from watching the meringue slowly become glossier
once the mixture is stiff and shiny
I turn meringue into pavlova base-to-be
with the addition of two ingredients
first, corn flour
usually this is combined with vinegar in a Pav
but this being a lemon pavlova, I'm using lemon juice
as well as the finely grated zest, which is where all the flavour resides
then it's a case of just folding everything gently together
now, a little culinary crafting
I dab the four corners of a sheet of grease-proof paper
with the mixture I have left on the whisk
which will act as a glue to stop the sheet slipping on the baking tray
I adore how the snowy marshmallow spills onto the sheet
In all it's alpine glory
I'm aiming for a regular circular shape
or as regular as I can get it
which means a lot of flattening and smoothing
but I find this rather restful
It'll take about an hour to cook
and then it can be left to cool in the switched off oven
I'll wait until just before my friends arrive tomorrow
before piling it up into a pavlova proper
the pavlova base is cooled
it's been cooled for a while and resting
cracks will appear, don't worry
this happens, and besides
as ever, I flip it over
I always do this because
I love the way the tender part of the pavlova base, like a marshmallow
hits the smoothness of the cream
but actually, I am departing from tradition here
because what goes on next is not cream
but lemon curd
I'm happy to use lemon curd from a jar
providing it's good and zingy, and if not
you can always add some lemon zest and lemon juice
don't be alarmed
if some of it drips, down the side
of the meringue base
I rather love that
Push it to the sides, it will drip more as it stands
And now, I will drape
The curd with the cream
Whipped but not too whipped
Coax it to the edges
I've got a lot of almonds I've toasted
By which I mean, I've tossed them up in a dry hot frying pan until they're this colour
You need a lot, this isn't just decoration
It's so that you get a good amount of crunch
I always think of this a bit like, er
an upside down lemon meringue pie
And finally,
some lemon zest
And I just can't wait
to sink into this lemony lusciousness