Directions

A few hours before

Crystallise the Primroses (optional)

1. Using a small paintbrush delicately paint fresh primrose flowers on the back and front with a thin layer of egg white. Don’t wash them first.
2. Dip them into caster sugar. Use a spoon to pile more caster sugar on top then lift the primroses out and gently shake off the excess sugar.
3. Place the primroses, flowers down, on baking parchment and splay out the petals with the stems facing upwards.
4. Leave to harden at room temperature for a few hours until crisp. These will keep for a week or so.

On the day

Make the Meringues

1. Heat the oven to 140°C/120°C fan/ gas 1 and line two large baking sheets with baking parchment. Make a 10cm long egg shaped template and 8cm diameter round template out of paper and cut out. Draw round the templates on parchment paper leaving a gap in between each shape. Turn the parchment paper upside down so that you can see the outline of the shape underneath.

2. Tip the egg whites into a large mixing bowl or table-top mixer. Whisk the egg whites with an electric hand whisk or in the stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, whisking continuously, until you have a thick and glossy mixture, which will hold up in a stiff peak on the end of the whisk.
3. Fit a star nozzle on a large piping bag and place it into a tall glass and roll the bag down over the lip of the glass to hold it in place. Fill the bag with the meringue mixture. Lift the piping bag up and twist or clip the end to seal.
4. Add a tiny blob of meringue mixture underneath each corner of the baking parchment to hold it down during cooking.
5. Hold the piping bag about 2cm vertically above the parchment paper on the baking sheets. Apply even pressure to the bag, slowly lifting the bag as you squeeze, to form egg-shaped or round nest-shaped meringues, using your template outlines as a guide. Pipe an extra line of mixture around the edge of each meringue to form a lip to hold the cream and make sure there is an even layer of mixture on the base.
6. If you don’t have a piping bag don’t worry, just fill a plastic food storage bag with meringue mixture then snip off one of the corners to pipe. Alternatively, just blob meringue mixture onto the parchment paper and shape into meringues. Hollow out the middles with a spoon.
7. For a fun touch pipe a semi-circular handle shape so that your Easter nests can become Easter baskets. And pipe bunny ear shapes that you can use on the pavlovas later.
8. Continue piping meringues until all the mixture in the bag is used up, leaving enough room between each meringue for them to spread a little.
9. Bake the meringues for 1 hr, turning the heat down to 120°C/100°C fan/gas ½ for the final 30 mins. Turn the oven off and leave the meringues in with the door shut for 30 minutes.
10. Remove the meringues from the oven and peel off the parchment paper. Leave to cool.
11. Decorate the pavlovas
12. Using a hand-held or stand mixer whip the cream until it reaches soft billowy peaks.
13. Add a heaped dessert spoon of whipped cream to the indentation in each pavlova and then top with about 1-2 tbsp of Tiptree Lemon or Passion Fruit curd.
14. Decorate the top of each pavlova with fruit, edible flowers, crystallised primroses and mint; unleash your creativity here!
15. To make an Easter basket add the handle shaped meringue to the top of the Easter nest, securing it in the cream.  To make an Easter bunny use the ear shapes you piped earlier and poke these into the cream.