Pink peppercorn, passion fruit & strawberry pavlova

A totally delicious strawberry pavlova recipe from top pastry chef James Campbell. It's quite complicated but would be a fantastic dessert to serve on an occasion you really wanted to blow your guests away.

James says: "I love the combination of strawberry and passion fruit and I felt the pink peppercorn gives it an unusual twist. I feel that sometimes pavlova can be a little too much on the sweet, creamy side so for me the balance with the peppercorns works well and with the lemon yoghurt tulle and basil it helps to re-invent this old classic."

Serves 8-10 People

For the pavlova:

4 egg whites

140g caster sugar

140g icing sugar sieved

2 tbsp crushed pink peppercorns

Pre-heat the oven to 100°C Fan/110°C conventional, then whisk your egg whites up using an electric whisk. Once the whites are doubled in volume gradually add the caster sugar. Whisk on full speed for approx 10 mins. The resulting merIngue mixture will seem over-whisked but that is perfect for this recipe. Take the icing sugar and fold in gently in three stages. Then fold in the pink peppercorns.

Transfer the meringue to a piping bag with a size 8 plain piping nozzle and pipe on to a baking tray lined with parchment by making a large circle (roughly 20cm in diameter). Repeat the process on top of the original circle, then pipe a 4cm wide border round the edge to contain the fruit (Or James says you could just spread out the meringue with a palate knife if you’re lazy, like me FB)

Transfer to the oven and bake for between 1hour 30 mins and 1hour 40min. You can tell if the pavlova is cooked if you can lift the paper off the base and leave no residue underneath. Once it is cooked set aside to cool.

For the passion fruit curd:

50g passion fruit pulp including the seeds

2 medium egg yolks

1 whole medium egg

50g caster sugar

50g unsalted butter

In a heatproof mixing bowl, add the passion pulp, egg yolks, whole eggs and caster sugar and whisk together. This is then cooked over a bain-marie: Fill a saucepan with a third of water and leave over medium heat. Sit the bowl on top ensuring the water does not touch the bowl as it is the steam that cooks the curd. Continue to whisk over a medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken. Take off the heat and whisk for one more minute, whisk in the diced butter, allow to cool slightly and add a little lemon juice to taste. Cover with cling film and refrigerate

For the chantilly cream:

100ml whipping cream

100ml double cream

Seeds of 1 vanilla pod

1 tbsp Icing sugar

Whisk together the vanilla seeds, cream and half of the sugar, add as much or as little of the remaining sugar as you like depending on how sweet you like it and continue to whisk until the creeam forms soft peaks. Place in the fridge for finishing the dessert.

For garnishing the pavlova

1 punnet of strawberries

a little small-leaved basil

Wash, hull and halve the strawberries, set aside with the basil.

For the peppercorn & yoghurt tuile

75g fondant icing sugar

50g liquid glucose

10g dried lemon zest (see below)

10g acidic yoghurt powder (optional or include a little citric acid)

1 tsp crushed pink peppercorns

Boil the fondant and glucose together and continue to cook until 156°C then pour onto a Silpat mat or parchment paper and allow to cool. Once the mix is cool put in to a food processor and mix to a fine powder, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix again.

You can dry the lemon zest by taking the peel from the lemon using a peeler and leaving at room temperature for 24 hours. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C Fan/200°C conventional, dust the powder over a silicone mat or parchment paper evenly and finely and bake for 3-4 mins or until the tuille has melted, remove from the oven and sprinkle over the pink peppercorn, allow to cool and break into rustic shards

To assemble the dish:

Take the cooled pavlova shell, and pipe or spread the passion fruit curd up to the edge then spread the chantilly cream on top. Scatter over the strawberries and a little basil and spike in a few tuile shards. Dust with a little icing sugar for a nice finish.

What to drink:
I'm inclined to think you need something a little off-the-wall with this exotic dessert. I tried a Sauternes at the tasting and it was overwhelmed. A young vendange tardive or late harvest gewurztraminer would be ideal - or a late harvest riesling. A moscato d'asti would possibly work too. FB

You can follow James on Twitter @dessertdoctor

Lemon and cherry possets with fruit marshmallows

It might seem perverse to choose a dessert from a barbecue book* but the Pitt Cue Co crew are as good at trashy desserts as they are at meat. And you need to finish off your BBQ somehow, don't you?

So here, from Pitt Cue Co: The Cookbook . . . "A cute, citrusy and velvety post-pork refreshment. These possets can be made well in advance and will suit all sorts of fruit, which makes it a pretty perfect get-me-out-of-the–shit dessert candidate.

Serves 5–6

cherries 500g

demerara sugar 40g

blackcurrant jam 20g

vanilla pod, split lengthways 1

double cream 600ml

caster sugar 170g

lemon juice 100ml (about 2 lemons)

Marshmallows (see below)

Set aside a cherry for each posset, to use as a garnish. Remove the stones from the remaining cherries and cut them all in half. Put half the cherries into a bowl with 20g of the demerara sugar and set aside to macerate for 1 hour.

Put the rest of the cherries into a pan with the other 20g of demerara sugar, the blackcurrant jam and the split vanilla pod and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes, until softened. Remove the vanilla pod, blitz the cherries to a thick pulp in a blender and pass through a sieve to make a thick purée. There should be about 70–80g. Set aside.

Divide the macerated cherries evenly between serving glasses, reserving the juices. The cherries should just cover the bottom of the glass. Put the glasses into the refrigerator to chill.

To make the posset, bring the cream and sugar to the boil in a pan, whisking to ensure that the sugar is well combined. Take the pan off the heat and pour in the lemon juice, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve. Take the glasses out of the fridge and pour the posset on top of the cherries.

Allow to cool, then return the glasses to the fridge for 4 hours to set.

To serve, arrange the marshmallows on top of each posset. If you like, you can blowtorch the marshmallows until just browned andmelting. Finish with a cherry on top.

Marshmallows
(makes lost)

gelatine leaves 12g (about 1–2)

water 30ml

caster sugar 200g

liquid glucose 20g

fresh free-range egg whites 80g (about 4 eggs)

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

fruit purée, optional 80g

cornflour, for dusting 70g

icing sugar, for dusting 70g

Maldon sea salt, a pinch

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Put the gelatine leaves into a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak until soft. Put the 30ml water, caster sugar and glucose into a large pan and heat until the temperature reaches 121°C on a sugar thermometer.

In a free-standing electric mixer, slowly whisk the egg whites and lemon zest on a medium speed until they reach stiff peaks. When the sugar mixture reaches temperature, take the pan off the heat. Squeeze out the gelatine leaves and add to the pan, mixing gently. Be careful: the mixture may bubble and splutter a bit. Turn the mixer to the lowest setting. With the mixer running, gently pour the hot sugar mixture down the side of the bowl into the egg whites, then increase the speed to medium and continue to mix until the whites are cool, glossy and stiff, about 8–10 minutes. Fold in the fruit purée, if using, until well combined.

Scoop the mixture into a piping bag with the smallest nozzle available. Combine the cornflour and icing sugar and sift over the prepared baking tray – this will stop the marshmallows from sticking. Pipe little marshmallow teardrops on to the greaseproof, about the width of a 10p piece with a nice quiff. Put the tray into the fridge for 1 hour to allow the marshmallows to set.

What to drink: Not an easy one. I would be tempted to serve a sweet sparkling red like a brachetto d'acqui or a Cabernet Franc ice wine like this Peller one here. (But not a sparkling shiraz - too strong, too dry)

* A lot of the savoury recipes also involve sub-recipes that would take up too much space but don't be discouraged - the book, which is published at £20 by Mitchell Beazley, is awesome. Photograph © Paul Winch-Furness.

Rustle up a Red Nose Pudding!

If you’re organising a Red Nose Day tasting tonight here’s a zany idea for a pudding that I devised for a Sainsbury’s magazine feature a couple of years ago when I interviewed TV presenter Phillip Schofield for Comic Relief.

It’s based on the classic French cherry dessert Clafoutis, a crisp sweet batter with cherries - or rather, red noses . . .

serves 8-10

2 x 425g cans of black cherries
3 tbsp of kirsch, cherry brandy or brandy (optional but good!)
4 medium eggs
60g (2 1/2 oz) caster sugar
110g (4 oz) plain flour
A pinch of salt
400ml(14 fl oz) whole milk (i.e. not skimmed or semi-skimmed)
Finely grated rind of one medium unwaxed lemon
A little flavourless oil for the tin
Icing sugar to serve

You will need a shallow rectangular cast iron dish or baking tin about 30cm x 20 cm or 1.5 litres (2 1/2 pints) in capacity

Get the cherries and batter ready two to three hours before making the pudding. Drain the cherries and place in a bowl with the kirsch or cherry brandy, if using. Mix lightly together with a metal spoon and leave to macerate, stirring the cherries into the juice a couple of times. To make the batter put the eggs in a food processor or liquidiser with the sugar, flour, salt and half the milk. Whizz together until smooth then gradually add the rest of the milk. Add the lemon rind and whizz again then pour the batter into a large jug, cover, and leave in the fridge until ready to use.

To bake the pudding preheat oven to 190°C/375° F/Gas 5. Brush the baking dish or tin lightly with the oil and put in the oven for 5 minutes to heat up. Drain the cherries (reserving the juice - a treat for the cook!) and tip into the base of the dish. Give the batter a final stir, pour over the cherries and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until nicely puffed up and brown. (Check after 20 minutes and if it seems to be browning too quickly turn down the heat to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.) Sift icing sugar over the pudding and serve with pouring cream or vanilla ice cream.

Recommended match: A cool cherry-flavoured fruit beer (Kriek) would be the perfect match with this although you could drink a southern French Muscat or other dessert wine.

Don't forget a number of retailers are selling wine in aid of Wine Relief which is contributing to the Red Nose Day charities. You can find my pick of what's on offer in the Guardian though some are no longer available as part of the promotion.

The photograph which is not of my recipe but one very like it is © Lilyana Vynogradova - Fotolia.com

Rose petal cupcakes

I call these cupcakes but in fact they're more like old-fashioned English fairy cakes which seem more appropriate for the Jubilee. I must say I prefer them. Made with butter rather than oil they taste more natural and 'cakey than an American-style cupcake and have about a third the amount of icing.

Makes 24 cakes

250g soft butter
250g caster sugar
4 large eggs, beaten with 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
250g self raising flour, sifted twice
125ml whole milk

For the icing
50g soft butter
a few drops of pink food colouring
200g icing sugar, sifted twice
1/4 tsp rosewater
a small pinch of salt (about 1/3 of a tsp)
2-3 tbsp whole milk

You will need two shallow muffin tins and some pretty paper cases and some rose petal-shaped cake decorations

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4

Tip the butter into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until smooth. Add the sugar about a third at a time and continue to beat until pale yellow and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla essence gradually, adding a spoonful of flour with the last few additions. Fold in the remaining flour alternately with the milk taking care not to overmix. Spoon into the paper cases and bake for about 20- 25 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch. Remove the baking trays from the oven for 5 minutes then transfer the cakes to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Rinse and dry the beaters then make the icing. Beat the butter until soft. Pour a few drops of pink food colouring onto a teaspoon (easier to control than pouring straight from the bottle) then carefully add to the butter, pouring back any excess into the bottle. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar 2-3 tablespoonfuls at a time. Add the rosewater, salt and enough milk to make a spreadable consistency. Spread on the tops of the cupcakes and decorate with the sugar roses. Leave for 2 hours before stacking them into a tiered cake. Scatter real pink rose petals around the cake.

What to drink: Pink moscato or a nice cup of tea.