I have just had the most amazing five days with my little girl, well not so little, she is nearly 30!!! What I mean is, I got to spend time with one of my most favourite people in the World, doing some of our most favourite things together, we hiked, we spent a lot of time outside and we just enjoyed each others company having a good old catch up.

Rosie, like Me, has a really sweet tooth, but also like Me, she likes to take care of herself with fitness, with what she eats and is very mindful of the expression “we are what we eat” ! Probably because I have drummed it into her over the years. I have recently gone vegan and did not want to deprive her of her favourite dessert ‘pavlova’, I did some research, piled through loads and loads of recipes and finally stumbled upon the recipe below on the OGGS website. I found that with most recipes you had to drain the liquid from a tin of chick peas and reduce it in a pan on the hob, this is rather time consuming and precious time that I would rather be spending with Rosie, the OGGS Aquafaba comes already to go.

I was rather dubious and rather concerned that this Pavlova would in no way live up to the fabulous Nigella recipe that is already on my blog, and yes it is very different, however, it tasted amazing and really hit the mark, the Elmlea cream we actually preferred to the usual dairy double cream that I would of used and so I must say it was a great success. OGGS have a few more recipes on there website that I will definitely be trying and I will post any that are good enough to appear on Gelsomina’s Cucina.

But for now, I will head back to the kitchen as I am making a vegan rhubarb crumble and think about what adventures Rosie and I can get up to on her next visit.

Love Di 💋

200ml OGGS Aquafaba (I got mine from Ocado)

1 tsp white wine vinegar, lemon juice or cream of tartar (I used white wine vinegar)

1 tsp cornflour

250g caster sugar

TOPPING

1 pot of Vegan Elmlea Plant Double cream

Fresh Fruit of choice (I used Strawberries as they have just come into season)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 140°C (120°C if you’re using a fan oven)/gas mark 1.

The OGGS recipe was for a Christmas pavlova and says to line two large baking trays with parchment paper. Draw a 23cm circle on each piece of paper (you can use a 23cm cake tin as a template) and turn the paper pencil-side down onto the tray, I wanted to make one large pavlova, so I did one circle onto the parchment, spread a layer of the mixture and then used what was left to build up the sides to hold the cream and fruit.

Pour your OGGS Aquafaba into a large spotlessly clean bowl. Using an electric whisk, whisk on a high speed for a couple of minutes until the mixture forms soft peaks and begins to leave a trail when the whisks are lifted from the bowl.

Now whisk in the vinegar, lemon juice or cream of tartar and the corn-flour with the cinnamon. Gradually begin to add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time whilst continuing to whisk on a high speed. Mix for another 3-4 minutes, until the mixture looks glossy, forms stiff peaks and doesn’t move around the bowl at all. It takes a little longer to get to this point than if you were using egg whites, but does beat up in the same way as a traditional meringue mixture would.

Divide your meringue equally between the 2 prepared baking trays, arranging them into nest shapes, forming swirls and peaks in the meringue with your spoon, or prepare as I mentioned above. I did learn that this mixture does spread, my base got rather large and rather flat, but it still tasted amazing.

Pop in the oven to bake for 2 hours 30 minutes. Do not be tempted to open the door!

After this time, turn off the oven and leave the meringues in there for another 3-4 hours, or overnight.

Before serving, carefully slide a palette knife under each meringue and peel the baking paper away. Transfer one to a large serving plate. Put the Elmlea Plant Double into a large bowl and whip to stiff peaks, I always add a little icing sugar to the cream to sweeten it up, but this is really not necessary as meringues are so sweet.

Spread half of the cream over the top of each meringue and carefully place one meringue on top of the other. Quickly arrange the fruit on top, unless you have done it like I did, then put all your cream into your nest and top with your chosen fruit. Serve straight away.