Mulled Spiced Pavlovas

Traditional flavours of cloves, spices and orange zest work scent these fabulous winter Pavlovas topped with boozy mulled figs

• Cooking Time Prep 25 mins
  Cook 1 hr
• Skill Level Moderately easy
• Servings Serves 2

Nutrition per serving

• Kcalories

  692

• Protein

  6g

• Carbs

  127g

• Fat

  18g

• Saturates

  10g

• Fibre

  6g

• Sugar

  120g

• Salt

  0.28g

Ingredients

• seeds from 1 cardamom pod
• 1 clove
• ½ tsp each ground allspice and ground cinnamon
• 1 egg white
• 50g caster sugar
• ½ tsp cornflour
• ¼ tsp white wine vinegar
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp orange zest
• 2 heaped tbsp crème fraîche, to serve
• For the figs
• 300ml red wine
• 85g caster sugar
• 2 cloves
• 2 allspice berries
• 1 small cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 4 cardamom pods
• zest ½ lemon and ½ orange
• 1 vanilla pod, split
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 dried figs
• For the sauce
• 125ml mulled wine, reserved from the figs
• 50g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 25g plain chocolate, broken into small pieces

Directions

1. First make the meringues. Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Using a pestle and mortar or spice grinder, finely grind the cardamom seeds, clove, allspice and cinnamon together. Whisk the egg white until stiff peaks form, then gradually whisk in the sugar, a tbsp at a time, until you have a stiff, shiny mixture. Fold in the cornflour, vinegar, vanilla, spice mix and orange zest.
2. Divide the mixture into 2 on the prepared baking sheet and use the back of a spoon to make a slight hollow in the centre of each. Bake for 50 mins until crisp, then turn off the heat and leave the meringues cooling in the oven for 30 mins. Finish cooling on a wire rack. If making ahead, store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
3. For the figs, put all the ingredients (except the figs) in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 30 mins. Reheat the liquid, pour over the figs, then leave overnight or at least until cool. Drain the figs, reserving the liquid, then thickly slice each into 2-3 pieces.
4. To make the sauce, put 125ml of the reserved fig liquid and sugar in a pan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then whisk in the cocoa and chocolate. The mixture will thicken as the chocolate melts. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature.
5. To assemble, spoon a little crème fraîche onto each Pavlova, top with the fig slices and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Serve extra sauce on the side.

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