Cheater's Pavlova

Cheater’s Pavlova | Photo by Nadine Greeff

I call this “cheater’s” pavlova because it is, without a doubt, a complete cheat. I was in the middle of making dinner for friends one night when I realized I hadn’t even thought about making a dessert, so I went through my pantry and fridge and came up with this. I was surprised at what a big hit it was, how easy it was to make, and how impressive it looked for being so simple to put together. I use store-bought meringue cookies as a base here instead of baking a large meringue, and top it with lemon cream and fresh fruits. I happened to have figs, blueberries, and cherries, but use whatever you have, whatever you like, or whatever is in season.

Serves 4

Ingredients

14-16 large vanilla meringue cookies
2 cups whipped cream
3/4 cup lemon curd
4 fresh figs, quartered
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved
edible flowers, for decoration, optional

Method

Arrange meringue cookies in a circular shape on a flat, round platter.

In a medium bowl, stir the lemon curd with a rubber spatula to loosen it up a bit. Gently fold in about half of the whipped cream, then add the remaining half and continue to fold in. The goal is to maintain a light, airy consistency.

Using a large spoon, gently place the whipped cream mixture over the meringue cookies, making sure that some of the cookies are still visible on the outer edge.

Arrange the fruit on top of the whipped cream mixture and, optionally, garnish with some pretty edible flowers.

Serve immediately.