WimblEton Tidy: Wild Strawberry and Elderflower Pavlova

I had hoped to make something with gooseberries this weekend, but after finding a grand total of 1 gooseberry yesterday, I was forced to look elsewhere for my ingredients.

Wild Strawberries are now coming into season, so I decided to play around with the Wimbledon classic "strawberries and cream" and make a tennis-inspired, reconstructed Eton Mess. This seemed all the more appropriate, as I picked the strawberries in Andy Murray's hometown of Dunblane.

Wild Strawberries have a surprising depth of taste, despite their diminutive size and I wanted to make the most of that flavour. I thought that this might work best if I dried and powdered the strawberries and used them as a flavouring for the meringue.

I use a dehydrator when I dry my foraged foods, though you can do this in your oven at its lowest setting. Once the strawberries (about 2 good handfuls) were dried, I used my coffee grinder (I only use this for spices - not for coffee) to blitz them into a powder.

Wild Strawberry Meringue - adapted from my mum's pavlova recipe, hence the imperial measurements.

3 egg whites
1oz Powdered wild strawberries
5oz caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 level tsps cornflour
1 tsp vinegar

Whisk egg whites, vinegar and vanilla to a very stiff consistency - so you can tip bowl and they'll not move.

Whisk in most of sugar, 1/3 at a time (leaving a small amount for next step), whisking to a stiff consistency after each addition.

Fold in remaining sugar and cornflour ingredients.

Thw result should be very firm, but soft enough to work. Too much whisking and it will lose bulk.

Pile up in a circle on an oiled piece of greaseproof paper on a baking tray.

Shape to form a hollow in the middle.

Bake at 140C for 1 hour.

Switch off oven and leave in oven for half hour. The meringue should be crisp, very pale brown in colour and soft inside.

Peel off paper very carefully, the meringue is fragile and may break apart at this point.

Elderflower Cream Topping

300ml Double Cream
2 heaped Tablespoons Icing Sugar
3 Tablespoons Elderflower Cordial

Whisk all together into soft peaks.

Spread cream topping on top of meringue.

Enjoy the sugar rush and until next time, Happy Foraging x