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1 teaspoon Oil
2 teaspoons Cornflour
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons White Wine Vinegar
5 large Egg Whites
300 gm golden Caster Sugar
50 gm Pistachio Nuts, shelled and roughly chopped (2oz)
650 gm fresh Apricots
3 Tablespoons Cointreau Liqueur or other Orange-flavored liqueur
4 Tablespoons Icing Sugar (to taste)
500-568 ml Whipping Cream
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Preheat oven to fan 120C / conventional 140C / gas 1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a circle. Brush circle with a thin film of oil. In a small bowl, blend the cornflour, vanilla extract and vinegar to a smooth paste. In a separate clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff (you may add a pinch of salt to speed the process up). Gradually whisk in the sugar a little at a time. Then whisk in the cornflour paste until well combined. Spoon the mixture onto the parchment paper, then spread it onto the drawn circle. Swirl the edges with the back of the spoon to give lovely soft folds and peaks. Scatter half the pistachios over the meringue and bake for 1 hour, by which time it will feel crisp if you tap it. Turn off the oven, but leave the Pavlova inside to cool, with the oven door open. Set aside 450g (1lb) of the apricots and roughly chop the rest, discarding stones. Purée the chopped apricots, then push them through a sieve with a metal spoon. Stir in the liqueur and sweeten with 3tbsp icing sugar, or enough to sweeten as you like it. Lightly whip the cream so it's soft and billowy, then spoon over the the pavlova. Cut the reserved 450g (1lb) apricots in half, discard stones, then cut into wedges. Scatter over the whipped cream along with the remaining pistachios. Dust with remaining icing sugar and serve with the apricot purée.
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