Lemon Curd

August is when the blackberries are ready and there are some epic ones this year – probably because of all the rain!

I love to go blackberry picking and I’m very happy its not been as hot as last year. I love blue skies, warm breezes, but NOT all the bugs that come with it!

I’m lucky to live very close to the river Trent where its quite rural and there are lots of hedgerows, full this year, of lovely, big blackberries.

I decided to have a go at making a pavlova with my harvest and fill it with whipped cream, lemon curd and the big juicy (washed!) blackberries. I soak my berries briefly in salt water and then rinse with lots more water to get rid of anything lurking in them…

Ingredients

5 egg whites – I use room temperature eggs
250g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1tsp of vanilla extract
Lemon – you can use vinegar too
1tbs corn flour
Filling:
500ml double/heavy cream
vanilla extract
Lemon curd
1-3 tbs sieved icing sugar
Blackberries
Mint and icing sugar to garnish

Method

Make sure the bowl and whisk are really clean and there are no bits of yolk in the egg whites. I rubbed the bowl and whisk attachment with half a lemon to make sure there was no grease residue and the acid helps stabilise the egg whites too.

Draw a circle on some baking parchment – I used a bowl that was around 6/7 inches and then turn it over so the pencil won’t end up on the pavlova. Pre heat the oven to 150°C fan/130°F

Place the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl and whisk until soft peaks

Then gradually add the sugar a spoonful at a time, giving it plenty of time to whisk into the egg whites.

Once the sugar is all in, the mixture will be full of volume and really glossy. Stop whisking and fold in the vanilla a teaspoon of lemon juice and corn flour – this will make the inside chewy and marshmallowy.

Use a little of the mixture to stick the paper to a baking sheet, this will not only stop it moving around when you shape the meringue, but also stop it blowing around in the oven and sticking to the pavlova

Spoon the meringue onto the baking parchment and using a palette knife or offset spatula, mould into whatever shape you like, leaving a dent in the middle for the filling to go into.

Bake for around an hour and don’t open the oven door. The surface will look dry and become crisp. After an hour, reduce the temperature to 120°C/250°F and leave it for another hour. Once this time is up, turn off the oven but leave the fan on, still not opening the door and leave again for another hour. Turn the fan off and leave it to fully cool, you can leave it overnight at this point.

It should be soft and a little chewy in the middle, but not wet and eggy! The centre will collapse a little which creates a pocket for all the berries and cream. Leave it on the parchment until you are ready to decorate as its quite fragile, mine has a few cracks.

To make the filling, whisk the cream, a tsp of vanilla and 1-2 tbs of icing sugar until it thickens into very soft peaks. Taste for sweetness and take care not to overwhip.

Take a couple of tablespoons of lemon curd and loosely fold into the cream so you have a marbled effect and gently pipe into the centre of the pavlova, along with a layer of berries, top with more cream and lots of blackberries, sprigs of mint and a light dusting of icing sugar.

When I purchased the black cherry flavoured icing sugar from The Vanilla Valley recently, I couldn’t resist adding some gin and tonic flavoured icing sugar to my order. The obvious recipe of choice for me was friands as icing sugar is one of the main ingredients.

G&T Friands4

These are alcohol free, so would be good to take to work for a bake sale, but I did try adding real gin to the glaze with great results.

In reality, these friands are lemon friands and would be just as good with ordinary icing sugar. The tart lemon curd in the middle cuts through the sweetness and I couldn’t resist topping with a little candied lemon slice for a bit of kitsch.

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I think it’s important to use a decent quality lemon curd here too, some of the very cheap versions taste like washing up liquid. I chose Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference which wasn’t the most expensive one, but I did avoid the cheapest. Of course home made is always best if you can get hold of some.

G&T Friands

Ingredients:
250ml egg whites – I use Two Chicks pasteurised egg whites
250g Sugar and Crumbs Gin and Tonic flavoured icing sugar
130g ground almonds
100g plain/all-purpose flour
Zest of one small lemon
165g butter – melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing the tin
1/2 jar of good quality lemon curd

To decorate:
1 cup of gin and tonic flavoured icing sugar, sieved
Water (or gin!)
Candied lemon slices

G&T Friands5

Method:
Pre heat the oven to 180°C/350°F and brush the friand pan with melted butter

Whisk the egg whites until broken down and frothy.

Fold in the almonds, flour and zest until just incorporated and stir in the cooled, melted butter.

Divide the mixture equally between the cups in the tin.

I used a piping bag to squeeze a little lemon curd into each cake, but you could easily do this with two teaspoons. You only need a small amount – around a teaspoon.

Bake the friands for around 25-30 minutes. They will rise up a little and become golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes in order to firm up a little, before leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

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To decorate, mix the icing sugar with a small amount of water (or gin if using) to make a fairly thick, but still runny, glaze. Drizzle over the little cakes and stud each one with a candied lemon slice.

G&T Friands2