Don’t settle for the traditional pav this holiday season, bring a pop of colour and flavour to your table for everyone to enjoy with this simple, tasty festive treat. 

This delicious recipe is from our Don’t give me eggs that bounce recipe book by royal chef, Peter Morgan-Jones with Emily Colombage, Prudence Ellis and Danielle McIntosh. 118 recipes with the person living with dementia in mind.

Recipe

• Serves: 4
• Preparation: 10 minutes
• Cooking: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 200ml custard (use pouring custard and thicken to recommended level)
• 6 mini-meringues (available at supermarkets)
• 200ml cream
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 350g strawberries, hulled and cut into halves
• 1 tbsp icing sugar 

Method

For regular, soft and minced and moist diets

In a bowl, add the cream, caster sugar and vanilla essence. Beat the cream until soft peaks form. Into an 18cm glass bowl (or individual glasses), pour in the thick custard. Crumble the meringues and place half of them on top of the custard.

Cut the strawberries in half, place in a bowl and gently squeeze the juice from them using the back of a spoon. Drain the juice into a cup (retain it for later), then dust the strawberries with the icing sugar, tossing them slightly.

Spoon some of the cream on top of the meringues. Place the squeezed strawberries on top of the cream, place remaining meringue on top of the strawberries and finish off with the remaining cream. Sprinkle with remaining strawberries. Pour the macerated strawberry juice over the top. Serve immediately.

For smooth pureed diet

Crumble the meringue until fine (the best way is to place in a clean plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin until a powder). Prepare the strawberries by placing them in a small stainless steel bowl, add the icing sugar and cover bowl with cling wrap. Place bowl on top of a boiling saucepan of water and simmer for 30–40 minutes, until the strawberries have ‘melted’. Allow to cool, then strain through a fine sieve.

Measure the strawberry juice and add commercial thickener, following the manufacturer instructions for required consistency. Blend with stick blender until required consistency achieved.

Place the custard in the bottom of the glass or glasses. Place the whipped cream in a bowl, fold the crushed meringue through the cream, spoon the meringue cream into individual serving dishes and spoon the cooled strawberry puree over the top. Allow to set in fridge for 20 minutes before serving.