Pisco Sour Tart - A Cocktail Dessert

The Recipe

Serves: 6 slices
Preparation: 40 minutes
Baking Time: 30-40 minutes

Lemon meringue pie is a dessert that is believed to have originated in Europe in the late 18th century. However, the exact origins of the pie are unclear, as there are various stories and legends surrounding its creation.

Dessert. It is my favourite part of a meal and there is always room for it, even if you had the biggest meal of your life, there is always room for a little sweet.

When working in the kitchen, my focus was more on savoury dishes for the restaurant, my forever happy place was and always will be baking and making desserts. When I worked in London, there was a little Italian restaurant a few doors down and I regularly treated myself to a lemon tart and a rich shot of hot chocolate. The lemon filling was tart - more than usual but not too much which worked perfectly with the crumbly buttery pastry it sat upon. This pisco sour tart is based on a classic lemon meringue tart, which was an 18th-century invention in Europe.

This recipe combines all the essential elements to make a pisco sour - and thrown into a pie form which then led me down the rabbit hole of learning more about pisco, a clear grape brandy whose origins will forever be debated over and which country has the best; Chile or Peru.
Here is more of the history behind Pisco.

For now, it is most important we get down to it and start baking this delicious tart.

INGREDIENTS

PASTRY
200g plain flour
80g unsalted butter
80g icing sugar
A pinch of salt
1 egg

FILLING
2tbsp/30g cornflour
180g caster sugar
Zest of 2 lemons & 3 limes
240mls lime and lemon juice (strained)
130g unsalted butter
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
180mls Pisco (you can also use gin or tequila if pisco is not readily available

MERINGUE
4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
2tsp cornflour

METHOD

Add flour, salt, and icing sugar in a mixing bowl
With the paddle attachment on your electric mixer, combine the dry ingredients
Slowly add in the butter until a fine breadcrumb consistency
Add the egg until the pastry comes together
Remove and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes

In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, lemon zest, and cornflour together.
Add in lemon juice and heat on a low setting, whisking continuously.
Slowly add in the Pisco and when the mixture starts to bubble, turn off the heat.
Slowly add egg yolks and whole egg, continuously stirring. If the mixture has become too hot, allow it to cool slightly before adding the eggs as they will scramble!
Finally, add the butter and mix until everything is combined, allow to cool and thicken.

Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form
Add a little bit of sugar at a time and then the cornflour until stiff peaks form.

ASSEMBLY
Preheat oven to 180’C
Remove the now firm pastry from the fridge and roll out on a well-floured surface until it is just under 1cm thick.
Line the 20cm pie tin with pastry and trim off the edges
Line the inside of the pastry case with baking paper filled with rice to weigh down the paper and blind bake the pastry for 15-20minutes.
Take out the rice and paper and bake the pie base for a further 8-10minutes.
Spread the lemon filling into the slightly cooled pie case and top with the meringue – spreading it out to the edges.
Use a fork to create peaks on the meringue which will give it a lovely texture and uneven browning once cooked.
Bake the pie in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until the meringue on top has browned.
Allow the pie to cool for about 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.
Drizzle with Angostura bitters to finish off your Pisco sour tart.

Lemon Curd Pavlova

The Recipe

Serves: 8
Preparation: 30 minutes
Baking Time: 1.5-2 hours

Now, the Pavlova’s origins are somewhat a debatable affair between Australia and New Zealand with each country claiming to have invented and made a type of Pavlova in honour of the popular ballerina, Anna Pavlova.

December is upon us again. Living in the tropics means we don't have ‘proper’ season which I believe is why time goes so fast here (that’s my theory, anyway). The year has flown by but I always look forward to this month as it is the perfect excuse to bake, cook and eat.

Growing up in Australia, I could never relate to Christmas movies that aired on TV in December. Despite being so positive and full of holiday joy, they were mostly set in the wintertime with romantic snowy backdrops and people rugged up in coats, gloves and beanies.

Christmas in Australia was and is most of the time, hot and dry. Traditionalists in my country like to cook the full roast dinner, despite the sweltering heat, with turkey, ham and all the trimmings but because of the warm weather it is the perfect excuse to put on a fresh seafood spread, cheese platter and a seasonal fruit Pavlova.

Now, the Pavlova’s origins are somewhat a debatable affair between Australia and New Zealand with each country claiming to have invented and made a type of Pavlova in honour of the popular ballerina, Anna Pavlova. However, the dish as we know it seems to have its roots way before 1926 when Anna Pavlova toured to both Australia and New Zealand.

Anna Pavlova, 1924. Credit: James Abbe

The Spanische Windtorte, an Austrian dessert that was popular in the 18th century, contains all the key elements of a Pavlova – meringue, cream, and colourful decorations. The Schaum torte from Germany also has a striking resemblance to the Pavlova adorned with fresh fruit and cream. Both these desserts use meringue, which is hard all the way through, unlike a Pavlova which is soft in the centre. In the late 1800s, there was a surge in the popularity of meringue-based desserts as this was around the time when the handheld egg beater was invented.

Spanische Windtorte. Credit: BBC food

The Spanische Windtorte, an Austrian dessert that was popular in the 18th century, contains all the key elements of a Pavlova – meringue, cream and colourful decorations. The Schaum torte from Germany also has a striking resemblance to the Pavlova adorned with fresh fruit and cream. Both these desserts use meringue, which is hard all the way through, unlike a Pavlova which is soft in the centre. In the late 1800s, there was a surge in the popularity of meringue-based desserts as this was around the time when the handheld egg beater was invented

The idea of Pavlova, as we know it in Australia, through research of countless recipes by food historians, started in Europe. However, the inclusion of cornstarch into a typical meringue recipe seems to be a small but significant contribution by America. Duryea Maizena, a company that developed cornstarch in the USA, published a variety of corporate recipe booklets as part of marketing to promote their product as well as helping housewives experiment with new recipes.

The inclusion of cornstarch in a meringue mixture when baked resulted in a crisp exterior and a pillow, marshmallow-like interior. The export of this cornstarch product to Australia and New Zealand enabled cooks to create Pavlova as we know it today. So, thank you to the American food industrialists of the 19th Century for developing the recipe for our beloved Pavlova.

It’s not difficult to make – but does require a bit of time and patience. The meringue base is a blank canvas for you to be as crazy as you want with ingredients. Whipped cream is a must but you can omit the lemon curd and change the fruit I have used.

INGREDIENTS

7 medium egg whites (at room temperature) Pinch of salt
400g caster sugar 2tblsp cornflour 1tsp white vinegar
1tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 140’C

2. Line a baking tray with baking paper with a 20cm circle drawn on it. When the meringue is done you can ‘glue’ the paper onto the tray by dabbing a tiny bit of it in each of the 4 corners of the paper.

3. Whisk the egg whites and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer on medium speed until light soft peaks form Gradually add the sugar, bit by bit until it is all incorporated

4. Whisk on high until egg whites become velvety and stiff peaks form With a spatula, lightly incorporate the cornflour and vinegar

5. Pile the meringue high in the centre of the drawn circle, smooth the outside with an offset spatula, if you have one.

6. Bit by bit spread out the meringue until it fills in the 20cm circle

7. Flatten the top of the meringue and create a little lip on the outside edges Turn the oven down to 100’C and place meringue in the oven

8. Bake for 1.5-2hrs. Turn the oven off and allow the pavlova to sit in the oven, cooling gradually, overnight. This lessens the risk of cracks and your pavlova sinking.

9. The next day, dress and decorate your pavlova with lemon curd, cream, berries and mint.

GARNISH
Strawberries, blueberries, mint or any fresh fruit in season that take your fancy

Whipped Cream
400mls whipping cream 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Whisk cream and vanilla until a pillowy cream forms

Lemon Curd
I like my lemon curd quite tart – if it’s not your thing you can hold back on the zest.

110g unsalted butter
125g lemon juice (3-4 lemons) Zest of lemons
5 medium egg yolks 100g caster sugar

1. Melt butter. Add lemon juice and rind (if using)

2. In a heatproof bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until the mixture looks lovely and pale. Add the warm butter mixture to the eggs then place over a saucepan of simmering water Mix the curd until it becomes a thick yoghurt consistency

3. Remove from heat and place cling film directly on top of the surface (to prevent a skin from forming) Allow to cool then place in a container in the refrigerator until ready to use.