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- Come on, in you come, Bert. Good boy. Good boy. He's looking through this. Bertie will will be relieved that he's had his chance in front of the camera. Hello, I'm Carolyn Robb, the Royal Chef. Former Personal Chef to Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry. We're making a Meringue Pavlova, filled with tropical fruit. I've got some blood oranges, cape gooseberries or Physalis, passion fruit, Kiwi fruit, figs, pomegranate seeds, and lots of lovely fresh mint, including apple mint and chocolate mint. Pavlova is a great dessert to serve at any time of year. But particularly at Christmas time, it looks really festive with a wonderful selection of tropical fruit in the center. And in England, it's something that's a little lighter than our traditional fruit Christmas pudding. Princess Diana didn't have much of a sweet tooth, but she certainly would've loved all the fruit that I'm filling it with. (soft orchestral music) Here, I have all the different fruit I'm going to use to fill the pavlova. I'm turning on the oven to 180 degrees centigrade. This is the temperature I'm going to use to heat up the sugar. And then before the meringue goes into the oven, the temperature will be reduced to 100 degrees centigrade. First thing I'm going to do is put the caster sugar onto this baking tray, which is lined with a silicon liner, goes into the oven and then it will heat up. Pavlova originally came from Australia and New Zealand. It's a wonderful, colorful dessert, a meringue shell filled with either cream, creme fresh, Greek yogurt and topped with fruit. The one I'm doing today, is in the shape of a crown, a tribute to Princess Diana, and it's filled with some of her favorite tropical fruits. I've got four lovely free-range eggs here. I'm going to separate them. I'm going to put the whites into the mixer and then that's what's going to be mixed together with the sugar. (orchestral music continues) I have now taken the caster sugar out of the oven, just because it's hot enough and I don't want it to caramelize before it goes into the meringue mixture. I'm going continue whipping the egg whites until they reach stiff peak stage, and then add the sugar in one spoon at a time. (orchestral music continues) First time I met Princess, Diana was at Kensington Palace, when I went to have an interview with her. I was incredibly nervous. I was also desperate to get the job. I was waiting in the kitchen with her other chefs at the time. She came through, she picked me up, and we walked back to her study together. And on the way back to her study, she said to me, "I don't think I'm very good at interviews, but I'm sure you must have a lot of questions for me." And instantly, I felt at ease, and that was so very typical of Princess Diana, and just how amazing she was at making everybody around her feel at ease. In advance of piping the meringue I've made, I'm going to paint the inside of these molds with some oil. Now I'm going to fill my piping bag with meringue. Prince William and Prince Harry, when they cooked with me, when they were little, loved to make meringues. And there was nothing they loved more than to have a piping bag full of meringue in their hands. (orchestral music continues) The top of the crown is now done and I'm going to do the base by spreading the remainder of the meringue into this mold. (orchestral music continues) I'm now going to finish off the crown by adding some pearled sugar and also some really tiny, silver sprinkles, just to add some sparkle to the crown. On a normal day at Kensington Palace, Princess Diana would usually pop into the kitchen. In the morning, she had an early morning fitness class, and then she would come in and talk to us about what was happening that day, what meals she was going to have, and what engagements she was doing. Princess Diana loved to have fun. And I do remember her coming into the kitchen in the mornings when there were generally quite a few protection offices there as well, chatting to us. And she would love to take one of their radios, which they may have put down on the kitchen counter, and surreptitiously hide it in the refrigerator or perhaps even the deep freeze. Now I'm going to put this in the oven, it's a very low oven, 100 degree centigrade, and it'll cook for between 40 and 60 minutes. Now, I'm going to prepare the fruit to go into the center of the pavlova. I've got some figs that I'm going to slice and some blood oranges and some Physalis. (orchestral music continues) These now have to cool for a little while and then I will remove it from the baking tray onto a serving dish. My meringue is now cool, so I'm ready to assemble it. I'm going to lift the base onto the serving dish. I've got my favorite kitchen implement again, Mr. Naughty, my favorite lifter. Now, I'm going to assemble the crown. I'm going to start by putting a little circle of cream around the outside of the base, and then I'm going to attach the top to that. You can fill a pavlova with whichever you prefer, you can use cream, creme fresh, or even Greek yogurt. Today, I'm using some creme fresh. Now, I'm going to fill the center of this with my remaining creme fresh, and then it's time to decorate it with the fresh fruit. We've got some fig, Kiwi fruit, cape gooseberries or Physalis, blood orange, passion fruit, pomegranate, and topped with some wonderful fresh mint, straight from the garden. (orchestral music continues) Here, we have a slice of the pavlova. As you can see, the meringue is deliciously crispy on the outside and it's got a lovely marshmallow texture in the center. Not only is this a dessert that's really good for Christmas, it's good for any family celebration. And it's so versatile because you can vary the contents, vary the fruits, according to whatever your favorites are. And I feel there's something for everybody in here. In this pavlova, I know Princess Diana would've loved the wonderful fruit in it. And of course, the fresh herbs are a tribute to Prince Charles. For more delicious Christmas desserts, do keep an eye out for my new book, "Christmas at the Palace," that will be out before Christmas, the end of this year. And for a wonderful array of other desserts, do go to delish.com. I must dash now, I need to go and find Rupert. Goodbye, everyone. (orchestral music continues) Rupert, come on, boy. (Rupert barking) You naughty boy. Bertie's gone, he's gone to bed. (orchestral music ending) (keyboard softly clicking)

Princess Diana was an inspiration to millions across the world. Chef Carolyn Robb used her personal inspiration to create this beautiful pavlova to pay homage to The Princess of Wales.
This dessert is a light but extremely delicious treat that is fit for any time of the year but it definitely a Christmas season favorite!

Former Royal Chef Bakes A Crown-Shaped Pavlova In Honor Of Princess Diana

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