Raspberry & Lychee Pavlova
 
A reverse-engineered version of famous pastry chef Dominique Ansel's raspberry and lychee pavlova.
Ingredients
For the meringue shells:
  • 6 egg whites, room temperature
  • ½ vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon extract)
  • 325g sugar
  • 4g corn starch
  • 7g vinegar
For the lychee whipped ganache:
  • 2g gelatin (1/4 of one packet)
  • 10g water
  • 50g lychee purée (see instructions below)
  • 85g whipping cream
  • ½ vanilla bean, scraped (or 1 teaspoon extract)
  • 55g white chocolate, finely chopped
For the mascarpone crème:
  • ½ vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon extract)
  • 70g whipping cream
  • 145g mascarpone cheese
  • 50g sugar
For assembly:
  • Fresh raspberries
  • Raspberry jam
Method
Prepare the meringue shells:
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C).
  2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Trace out 2.75'' (7cm) in diameter rounds with a pencil if you would like guidance while piping the meringue. Flip the parchment paper over.
  3. Whip the egg whites and the scraped out seeds of the vanilla bean (not vanilla extract) on medium speed until soft peaks form (about four minutes on a stand mixer). Add in the sugar one tablespoon at a time while whisking. Continue beating until stiff, shiny peaks form. (You'll be beating for about eleven minutes total with a stand mixer.)
  4. Whisk in the corn starch, vinegar, and vanilla extract (if using) for about one minute.
  5. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a large, circular pastry tip (I used Wilton #12). Pipe out blobs 2.75'' (7cm) in diameter onto the parchment. (You can also use a little bit of meringue to stick the parchment to the sheet pan.) The easiest way to do this is to hold the pastry bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, near the center of the desired blob, and then push down from the top of the bag while not actually moving it. For an easier (yet less pretty) alternative, use a spoon to divide the meringue or just make two big ones.
  6. Using an offset spatula, gently flatten just the tops of half of the meringue blobs. Later, these will be flipped upside down and act as the base. I suggest flattening the uglier ones..
  7. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes and then turn off the oven. Leave the oven door closed and let cool completely, at least four hours. You can leave the meringues in overnight if you wish. Just don't open the oven door! Store in an air-tight container, at room temperature, until ready to use.
Prepare the lychee whipped ganache:
  1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and stir to combine. Let sit for five minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the lychee purée by straining a can of lychees. Blend the fruit until smooth (you can use a food processor instead if you wish). Strain out 50g of the purée into a medium saucepan.
  3. Add the whipping cream and the scraped vanilla bean/vanilla extract to the lychee purée and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin.
  4. Place the white chocolate in a large bowl. Pour all of the whipping cream and lychee mixture in. Let sit for two minutes, and then slowly whisk together until smooth. Remove the vanilla bean, if using.
  5. Place in the fridge overnight to set.
Prepare the mascarpone crème:
  1. Scrape the vanilla bean into a bowl with the cream, mascarpone, and sugar. Whip with the whisk attachment until smooth, about three minutes on medium speed.
To assemble:
  1. Whip the lychee ganache at medium speed for about two minutes, or until smooth.
  2. Place one of the flattened meringues flattened-side down. Pipe a tall, yet narrow, mound of ganache in the center. Arrange raspberries in a circle around the ganache, with openings facing outward.
  3. Pipe small dots of raspberry jam in between the raspberries. Then, almost cover the raspberries by piping the mascarpone crème on top. Cover with another piece of meringue, pressing gently, to form a meringue "sandwich".
Recipe by IronWhisk at http://www.ironwhisk.com/2017/08/raspberry-lychee-pavlova/