Makes 8

For the meringues
3 egg whites
100g sugar
tiny squeeze lemon juice
For the curd
3 yolks
1 whole egg
3 blood oranges, juice only
35g butter
45g sugar
For the caramelised oranges
3 blood oranges
50g caster sugar
To finish
250g creme fraiche
A handful of unsalted peeled pistachios, lightly toasted, bashed
Method
For the meringues:
- Preheat the oven to 110C, line a baking tray with baking parchment.
- Add the whites to a mixing bowl/food mixing bowl with a small squeeze of lemon juice and whisk on low until they form an even light foam.
- Increase the speed to maximum and whisk until the egg whites are at medium peaks. Continue to whisk and aprinke in the sugar. Whisk for 5 minutes (or longer, they’ll just keep getting fluffier!), until thick, glossy, and beautiful.
- Spoon into 8 mounds onto the prepared baking tray and using a small spoon, create wells in the centre of each.
- Bake in the oven for 2 hours, opening occasionally to release any steam.
- Allow to cool completely
For the curd:
- Prepare a sieve over a bowl to strain your curd.
- Heat the sugar and the blood orange juice in a small saucepan until just boiling, add the butter reduce the heat and stir until melted. Remove from the heat.
- Whisk the yolks and whole egg together. Pour the juice into the eggs, whisking all the time. Return the mix to the pan and place back on a medium heat.
- Keeping the whisk moving all the time, heat the curd until it starts to thicken – ensure your whisk gets into all the corners as well as the centre of the pan.
- Still whisking, reduce the heat and when the consistency is of lightly whipped but runny double cream. Strain though your prepared sieve.
- Allow to cool completely.
For the caramelised blood oranges:
- Top and tail the peel of the oranges with a sharp knife. Cut away the rind from top to bottom until all the rind is removed and no white pith is remaining. Horizontally cut the oranges into circles about 1/2 cm thick.
- Arrange the oranges into a heatproof container e.g. pyrex dish
- Put the sugar into a small saucepan. Dissolve the sugar in just enough water to cover it over a high heat. Do not stir.
- Keep the heat on high until the water has evaporated away and the sugar begins to caramelise. At this point start swirling the caramel every so often.
- Stop the caramel when it is a deep amber with the reserved orange juice and quickly pour over the oranges.
- Set aside to allow the caramel time to dissolve.
To assemble
- Place the pavlova shells onto plates.
- Spoon the creme fraiche into a small bowl and add a few of large spoonfuls of the curd.
- Marble the curd through the creme fraiche.
- Spoon into the pavlova shells.
- Arrange the caramelised blood oranges on top.
- Sprinkle with the pistachios and drizzle with the blood orange caramel.
Tip: You’ll have some curd left over, it’s lovely to have with ice cream, in cakes, or you can bake it into tarts!