Good Morning Lovelies, 

I thought we would start the day with food for thought, because if there is anything I know it is starting the day with food and film is the best lovelies! And as a huge foodie I could not miss the opportunity to share this brand new recipe from Gizzi Erskine and Florida Grapefruit, because it sounds delicious!

With winter in full swing lovelies, this treat by the pair will warm you up and keep your healthy eating diets on the fun side of life, as it brings the sweet flavour of the grapefruit to the end of your evening meal. 

Creator Gizzi Erskine says, “I’m a huge fan of Florida Grapefruit – and have been for a long time. I love the sweet, yet tangy taste – and find it works well with such a variety of dishes. I immensely enjoyed creating the recipes for this versatile fruit – using inspiration from my time in the US, to thinking back to the dishes of my childhood. The results are five very different, but delicious recipes with juicy, tasty Florida Grapefruit. YUM!”

So get ready to enjoy this beautiful dessert lovely featuring the fruit that is fat and cholesterol free, as well as low in calories and high in fibre and other vital iron, vitamins and anti-oxidants. 

So tuck into this great, Florida Grapefruit Curd Pavlova Recipe lovelies…

For the meringue ingredients:
5 free range egg whites
300g caster sugar 

For the whipped cream topping ingredients:
300 ml double cream
1 tsp seedy vanilla extract
1 tsp icing sugar

For the curd ingredients:
150ml strained Florida grapefruit juice.  
50ml lemon juice
75g golden caster sugar 
1 free-range egg and 4 egg yolks, I would use Cottswold legbars for their orange yolks
75g unsalted butter

Caramelised Grapefruit ingredients:
2 whole Florida grapefruits, peeled and thinly sliced on a mandolin
1 tbsp caster sugar

How To Make The Meal:

To make the meringue. preheat the oven to 200C. Line a large flat baking tray with greaseproof paper. Line a deep roasting tray with greaseproof paper, pour in the sugar and put it in the oven for about 5 minutes until the edges are about to melt. Heating the sugar helps to create a more stable, glossy mixture. Separate the egg whites into a large bowl and begin to whisk slowly, allowing small bubbles to form, then increase the speed gradually until the egg whites form stiff peaks. 

Turn your oven down to 100C. While you whisk at speed, add the hot sugar to the egg whites one spoon at a time. Once you have added all of the sugar, continue to whisk for a further 5-7 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth, stiff and glossy. 

To make the caramelized grapefruit thins, places the sliced Florida grapefruit onto baking paper on a baking sheet sprinkle with the caster sugar. Place in the bottom of the oven while the pavlova is cooking. They will be caramelized and dehydrated after about 1-2 hours. Keep an eye on them so the sugar doesn’t scorch. Remove from the baking sheet straight away and place onto a wire rack where they will continue to dehydrate and crisp up.

Spread onto the baking tray in a fat circle approximately 23cm in diameter. Make a well in the centre. Cook in the oven for 2 hours. Turn the oven off and leave the door a little ajar and leave to cool in the oven for 1 hour.

To make the curd, put the Florida grapefruit juice, sugar and egg in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Cover with cling film, then leave to cool. Once cool pop in the fridge to firm up and set. 

Whip the cream with the vanilla and icing sugar until thick enough to hold its shape, but still soft, there is nothing worse than foamy over whipped cream. 

Remove the meringue from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature. You don’t want to leave it anywhere too cold, so you can do this by leaving the oven door open if you think your kitchen is too chilly. 

Remove from the greaseproof paper onto a nice serving plate. Smooth over cream with a palette knife, followed by the curd. Finally arrange the dried Florida grapefruit prettily on top and serve.