Topping For Rose And Pepper Pavlova

Asked by hollis517. Answered on 26th June 2019

Full question

Could I use a wild strawberry jam for the Rose And Pepper Pavlova? The jam is practically inedible as a spread because it's way too sweet, but if I use it for the pavlova instead of the strawberries + passionfruit juice + sugar to top the unsweetened whipped cream, it ought to be perfect? Or do you think I'll need to decrease the amount of sugar in the meringue as the jam is extremely sweet?

Image of Nigella's Rose and Black Pepper Pavlova — Photo by Jonathan Lovekin

Rose and Pepper Pavlova with Passionfruit and Strawberries

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's Rose And Pepper Pavlova With Passionfruit And Strawberries (from AT MY TABLE is topped with whipped cream and strawberries that have been macerated in passionfruit juice and a little sugar.

We would not reduce the amount of sugar in the meringue as the sugar is important to the structure and texture of the meringue. If you have a jar of jam that you would like to use up and also if strawberries are out of season then using a soft jam as a topping could be an alternative, though fresh strawberries would still be our preference. You can stir the jam and then spoon it over the whipped cream. To offset the sweetness of the jam we would suggest that you then spoon the juice of the passionfruit over the top of the strawberry jam. Even ripe passionfruit have a slight sharpness to them, which should be enough to offset the sweetness of the jam and also keeps the flavour of the passionfruit in the pavlova. As the jam has less texture than whole strawberries, it may be nice to use the pulp of one passionfruit (including the seeds) and juice of two passionfruit.