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It’s no surprise that Lauren Eldridge is in charge of dessert at family Christmas. Regarded as one of the country’s hottest young culinary stars, the pastry chef at iconic NSW regional restaurant Berowra Waters Inn is inspired by in-season produce when making summer desserts.
“I try to use everything I like to eat during summer – stone fruits, passionfruit and mangoes,” Eldridge says. “When you smell your first mango of the season, that’s when you know it’s holiday time.”
Here, she shares six heavenly takes on meringue. “Meringue is light and refreshing, which people prefer over summer,” Eldridge says.
But what’s the must-cook staple for her own Christmas table? A traditional pudding, complete with silver coins. With this as inspiration, Eldridge has created a gorgeous pavlova pairing classic pudding flavours and summer Aussie ingredients.
“A bombe alaska is a real show-stopper. It’s also something you can make ahead, which is important at Christmas – you don’t want to be in the kitchen all day.”
PASSIONFRUIT & RASPBERRY MERINGUE TART
SERVES 8
You’ll need a kitchen blowtorch (from kitchenware stores) for this recipe.
200g plain flour
100g cold unsalted butter, chopped
2 egg yolks
¼ tsp vanilla paste (optional)
80g icing sugar, sifted
PASSIONFRUIT FILLING
150g pure cream
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
175g caster sugar
100g passionfruit pulp
1¼ tbs lemon juice
RASPBERRY JELLY
3 platinum-strength gelatine leaves
180g raspberries, plus extra to serve
2 tbs lemon juice
30g caster sugar
SWISS MERINGUE
6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar
To make the pastry, place flour, ½ tsp fine salt and the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted
