Espresso Martini Pavlova Nests!

April 29th isn't just a date referenced by Taylor Swift in High Infidelity. April 29th also happens to be my birthday! 

This year I was feeling a little down about turning 24. 24 feels like a naff age where nothing is really happening... not quite early 20s, your late-teen years are well in the past, but you're not ready to admit you're into your mid-20s either.

I couldn't even properly celebrate my birthday on the day, even though it was a Saturday, as I had work really early on Sunday morning. 

I needed a way to cheer myself up, and seeing as an espresso martini is my favourite cocktail I decided a coffee and vodka themed bake would do the trick. I'd been trying to crack the case where pavlovas are concerned for a while now, so I also decided another pavlova was the way forward. 

Espresso Martini Pavlova!

In the past, the pavlovas I've made have been based on French meringue. This meringue is arguably the easiest to make. By whisking egg whites until they form soft peaks, and then very gradually adding sugar until stiff peak form, before adding white wine vinegar and cornflour, you produce a meringue that is perfectly masharmallowy and ideal for pavlova. 

However, a problem I always have is that my French meringue always turns a kind of yellowy/off white in the oven, and no matter what temperature I bake them on I just can't seem to stop this happening. Then I came across a video on TikTok by Matt Adlard, showing off different types of meringue. Matt's recipe for Swiss meringue called for the pavlova to be baked at just 80 degrees C, and when I gave it a go they remained the brilliant white colour you'd expect in a pavlova! Swiss meringue therefore seems like a much better alternative for my oven!

My piping could use a little work! 

Swiss meringue certainly takes a little more effort than French meringue. To make Swiss meringue, egg whites and caster sugar are whisked together by hand in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Some recipes call for the mixture to be whisked to 80 degrees C, whilst others call for 65 degrees C. As with my vegan Swiss meringue, I met in the middle (ish) and heated the mixture to 70 degrees C. So long as the sugar is completely dissolved into egg white, it's fine!

Once all the sugar is dissolved, the mixture can then be poured into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisked on a medium speed for approximately 7 minutes, until the meringue is stiff and glossy. Finally, lemon juice and cornflour are added, before the meringue is piped into neat nests, and baked. The extra effort is certainly worthwhile! 

A coffee/vodka syrup for the 
final touch!

With the meringue nests baked, I realised I needed to find some way of getting the espresso martini flavours into the nests without overcomplicating the finished bake. The simplest way was to prepare a vodka and espresso syrup, by combining fresh espresso and vodka with sugar in a pan. I then brushed the insides of the baked pavlovas with this syrup for the coffee flavour and slight vodka hit!

Now that the nests were cooled and brushed with syrup, I could get to work on the filling. I opted for a Tia Maria and chocolate whipped cream filling, to round off the espresso martini flavours! I definitely went a little heavy on the cocoa powder, but there's no such thing as too much chocolate!  

I've said it before and I'll say it 
again, I need to work on my 
photography skills!

One thing is for sure, I need to take just a little extra care with my piping. I was clearly a little off with some of the lines, causing the layers to slip just a bit. The nests are not quite uniform as a result, but on the whole I would say these nests are something of a triumph!

You'll be glad to hear that after work on Sunday I finally got that espresso martini (or 3!), and it tasted very similar to the pavlovas as a matter of fact! 

Gibby x