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!