Little Christmas Pavlovas

Difficulty: Medium

Serves 8-10 (depending on size)

2015 will forever be remembered as the year of aquafaba in the vegan community. Still haven’t heard of it? Get the hell out from under that rock and grab yourself a can of chickpeas, cos that’s what you’re gonna need to make these bad boys. “Chickpeas?! Are you effing nuts?!” I hear your screaming at your laptop or smart phone and while it may be hard to believe, the juice from canned chickpeas act as egg whites to make this classic Aussie dessert (soz NZ, it’s ours. We own it now).

Knock the unwanted gifted socks off the family this Christmas with a plate of red, white and green courtesy of the meringue base, coconut cream and fruity mint topping. This light and refreshing dessert makes these little Christmas pavs the perfect finale to your epic festive feast and let’s be honest, who doesn’t love having their own individual dessert?!

Ingredients

Meringue

• 2/3 cup canned chickpea juice (the less salt, the better)
• 2/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (you can get it at Coles!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

• 1 400mL can full fat coconut cream, left in the upside-down in the fridge for 24+ hours (I use Trident)
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups raspberries
• 1 small pomegranate
• 1/2 cup red currants
• A handful of mint leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. With an electric mixer, whip the chickpea juice until it starts to turn white.
3. Slowly add the caster sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time before adding the xanthan gum.
4. Keep mixing until you’ve got stiff, white meringue.
5. Place a large dollop of mixture onto the baking tray and use a knife to flatted out the top and round out the sides.
6. Do the same with the remaining mixture, leaving about 10cm between each meringue. You’ll need both trays.
7. Place in the oven and bake for 3 hours. The bases of the meringues should be crisp.
8. Remove the meringues from the oven and allow to cool.
9. While the meringues are cooling, make the cream topping by opening the can of coconut cream and draining off the clear liquid.
10. Add the thick cream to the bowl of your electric mixer and whip until thickened.
11. Sift in the icing sugar before adding the vanilla as you continue to whip.
12. Place generous dollops of cream on top of each meringue before loading with berries and a few mint leaves.
13. Serve immediately.