Cherry pavlova with olive oil

Tangy yoghurt cream, crunchy pistachios, crisp meringue, and juicy cherries—these single-serve pavlovas are a sweet sensation for eyes and taste buds alike. 

Take your pavlova up a notch with the addition of extra virgin olive oil. An extra drizzle of our Greek olive oil or August’s Portuguese Club EVOO is the ideal pairing to cut through the sweetness and adds a shine of gold to this dessert. 

Purple fruits are also packed with polyphenols, adding even more goodness. If you don’t have fresh cherries this also works perfectly with frozen cherries, any stone fruit of your choice or forage away in the British hedgerow and pile your meringue high with juicy blackberries. 

Here's the method: 

Feeds eight

• Heat your oven to 180 degrees. 
• Separate your egg whites and add them to a very clean bowl. Use a handheld mixer or stand mixer to beat the whites to stiff peaks then add half the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form once again, this will take a couple of minutes. Fold though the remaining sugar with a large spoon.
• Dollop generous spoonfuls of the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking tray to form roughly 8 individual meringues. Put the tray the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 120 degrees. Bake for 1 hour.
• To make the cherry compot, halve and pit most of the cherries, leaving a few with their stalks for later. Add to a saucepan along with the caster sugar, pomegranate molasses and a small splash of water. Gently simmer on a low heat for 5-10 minutes until bubbling and saucy.
• For the yogurt cream, whip the double cream until thickened, but not stiff. You’re looking for a clotted cream-like consistency. Fold through the yogurt and season with a little salt (trust me on this one!)
• Once the meringues have finished baking, cool on a wire rack.
• To assemble, anchor each meringue on a plate with a smudge of the yogurt cream then add a generous spoonful on top.
• Finish with some of the cherry compot, a few fresh cherries, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and chopped pistachios.