Raspberry Pavlova with Vanilla and Pistachio

Meringue:

1. Preheat the oven to 80 c degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper. Mark 9-10 cm circles on the paper and turn it over (so that the meringue won’t touch the ink).
2. Place sugar and egg whites in a fireproof bowl and place on a pot of boiling water (double-boiler).
3. Cook the sugar and egg whites while stirring until all the sugar has melted and the mixture reaches 40c degrees.
4. Transfer the mixture to a mixer bowl with whipping attachment and whip at high speed for 8-10 minutes until you get a very stable and shiny meringue.
5. Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a smooth 1 cm piping tip.
6. Drizzle tiny meringue mounds crammed together in a 9-10 cm circle (according to the marks on the baking paper).
7. Bake the meringues for 3 hours until completely dried.
8. Cool at room temperature.

Raspberry jelly:

1. In a small bowl, mix gelatin and 15 ml of water and set aside for about 10 minutes until the gelatin absorbs the liquid.
2. In a pot, put raspberry puree, sugar and water and cook until boiling.
3. Add the gelatin and mix well until it melts and the mixture is uniform.
4. Pour the mixture into a 7-cm-shaped round silicone mold and fill about 1 cm high. Cool in the freezer until completely set and remove from the pan. Alternatively, the whole mixture can be poured into a relatively flat rectangular pan, freeze and then cut out 7 cm circles with a cookie cutter.
5. Using a small 3 cm diameter cookie cutter, remove the middle part of each disc to create a sort of jello circle (see pictures), and store in the freezer until assembly.

Pistachio biscuit:

1. Preheat oven to 160c degrees.
2. In a mixer bowl whip egg white and salt until white foam begins to form.
3. Add the powdered sugar gradually and continue to whip until you get a stable meringue.
4. Add finely ground pistachio and cornstarch and gently fold until mixture is mixed.
5. Pour the mixture over a baking pan lined with baking paper and spread it with a spatula to a thickness of about 3 mm. Sprinkle with pistachios in a uniform layer.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
7. Cool slightly at room temperature and cut out circles about 9-10 cm in diameter.

Vanilla cream:

1. In a mixer bowl place mascarpone, cream, vanilla and powdered sugar, and whip at high speed until you get a uniform and stable cream.
2. Transfer the cream into a piping bag fitted with a smooth 1 cm piping tip.

Assemble the Pavlova:

1. Flatten the upper part of the meringues with a fine grater or other delicate scraper. Turn over onto a serving plate so that the flat “mounds” face downward.
2. Gently brush the pistachio biscuit with raspberry puree and place a thin layer of biscuit on top of the meringue.
3. Place over a circle of jelly and drizzle around (exactly according to the shape of meringue mounds) vanilla cream.
4. Arrange fresh raspberries in the middle of the jelly layer, decorate with chopped pistachio nuts, sugar powder and a gold leaf.