Pavlova
It’s summer here in Australia at the moment, and the weather has been amazing over Christmas. The days have been clear and sunny, hot at around 30°C (which is about 86°F). I remember being a kid, helping my mum or my grandmother bake sweets in the summer. I particularly remember making the pavlova because my grandmother didn’t have an electric beater and it took forever to whip that egg white!
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1.5 tsp cornflour
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 300mL thickened cream
- fresh berries to decorate
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan forced) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Beat the egg whites until they form stiff, foamy peaks.
- Slowly add the caster sugar in small increments and ensure that it is fully mixed in before adding more. You can check this by rubbing a small amount between your thumb and index finger to see if it is still grainy. Once all sugar is mixed in the stiff peaks will be glossy.
- Fold in the cornflour and white vinegar.
- Pour the meringue mixture onto the baking paper and shape into a round form with a flat top. The meringue will spread when baking so make sure you don’t make it too round.
- Turn oven down to 160°C (150°C fan forced) and place the meringue form into the oven for 30 minutes.
- At the end of the 30 minutes, turn the oven down to 100°C and leave for a further 10 minutes.
- Next turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar until the pavlova has completely cooled. This will minimise the amount of cracking if it cools slowly.
- Whip the cream, then add to the top of the pavlova.
- Decorate with mixed fresh berries (or passionfruit pulp and kiwi fruit), or for a delicious twist, crush up two peppermint crisps and sprinkle over the top!
