A festive treat of ginger beer poached pears with brown sugar meringues and citrus curd. A delicious combination of flavours, that are great for the festive season.
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The spices and ginger beer make the pears so full of flavour, it pairs really well with the chewy brown sugar meringue and sharp curd. I decided to use a mix of lemon and orange.
Brown sugar meringues always seem a little more fragile than usual meringues, so making them small like this and then piling them up still creates a wow factor that a pavlova would.
Ginger beer poached pears with brown sugar meringue and orange curd
Course: Dessert6
servingsIngredients
- For the meringues
6 egg whites (180ml)
140g light soft brown sugar
150g caster sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar or 1 tsp white vinegar
- For the poached pears
5-6 pears
500ml ginger beer
2 strips of orange peel and lemon peel cut with a peeler
Juice of one orange
juice of one lemon
80g light brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
4 star anise
7 cloves
1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- For the curd
150ml clementine or orange juice
100ml lemon juice
Zest from two lemons and 2 oranges
80g caster sugar
2 whole eggs and 3 yolks
1 and a half tsp corn flour
70g butter
- To assemble
300 ml double cream
4 tbsp poaching syrup
3 clementines, peeled and finally sliced with a sharp knife.
Edible Gold leaf or a spray (optional)
Directions
- For the meringues
- Preheat oven to 120C.
Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Sift the brown sugar into a bowl and set aside.
Make sure your bowl and whisk attachment and spotlessly clean. Using a stand mixer or hand held electric whisk beat the egg whites and a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Add the castor sugar in 3 lots, beating until the whites are glossy and thick. With motor of the mixer running on low sprinkle in the brown sugar slowly a tbsp at a time. Add the cream of tartar/or vinegar. Turn mixer up and beat until stiff peaks and the sugar has dissolved.
Spoon mounds of meringue onto the trays, leaving space between. Or pipe meringue in to nests using a piping bag. - Bake for about 1 hour to one hour 1-15 minutes depending on size until firm. Turn oven off and prop door open with a wooden spoon and leave until meringues are cold.
- For the poached pears
- Peel the pears and add to a small 16 or 18 inch saucepan.
Pour in the ginger beer and add the lemon and orange juice. You may need more ginger beer if using a larger pan, you need enough to cover pears.
Add the brown sugar, spices, vanilla and strips of zest and place on a medium heat. - Stir to dissolve sugar. Add a circle of baking paper cut to the size of the pan with a hole cut in the center. Simmer them for 25-30 minutes or until pears are tender. It depends how firm they are, it could take a lot longer.
- For the curd
- Add the juice, eggs and yolks, sugar and cornflour in a pan and whisk to combine.
Stir over a low medium heat with a wooden spoon constantly until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon. - Remove from the heat and pour through a sieve into a bowl.
while still hot mix in the butter a bit at a time and stir until it has combined. let cool then chill in the fridge for at least an hour. - Assembly
- Whip the cream until soft peaks and then add the poaching syrup to sweeten, alternatively you could use 4 tbsp icing sugar.
- Arrange some of the meringues on a serving plate, add the cream then spoon over some of the curd. Add some more meringues. Slice the poached pears and remove core. Add these and the clementines and then drizzle over some more curd. Decorate with edible gold for a Christmassy touch.
