Preheat your oven to 150C/130C Fan. Line a LARGE baking tray with baking parchment.
Whisk the egg whites with an stand mixer – I use my Kitchen Aid until they form stiff peaks – when you reach this stage, start adding the sugar 1tsp at a time. Once all of the sugar is incorporated it should be glossy!
One at a time, whisk in the white wine vinegar, then the cornflour, then the vanilla and whisk until smooth!
Using a small bowl in the middle of the parchment paper, dollop the mixture around it so that once you remove the bowl, it’ll be a ring shape like a wreath!
I use a tablespoon and do a large spoonful for each dollop and go round the small bowl till I have used all the mixture up. I then use a fork so spike up little bits to give it texture!
Carefully lift out the bowl and bake in the oven for 1 hour – turn off the heat of the oven and leave to cool completely in the oven, without opening the door. I bake my meringues late at night, and leave them to cool overnight to make things easier!
Prepare your fruit – chop up any fruits such as the strawberries, and clean all the berries thoroughly! Whip up the double cream with the icing sugar.
Spread/dollop/pipe the whipped up cream onto the meringue and then add the fruit on top! Add a few mint leaves for colour, and sprinkle with icing sugar! I also used a little edible glitter for a bit of Christmas cheer! Enjoy!
Notes
I used my favourite fruits as I LOVE them combined with cream and meringue – using seasonal berries are better compared to some of the ones I used, but I happen to know someone who manages to grow these delicious berries all year round and they taste amazing.
Anything wintery will suit the dessert well! Frozen berries will also work, but they will produce moisture once they thaw!
The icing sugar in the cream, and the vanilla in the pavlova are optional, but I like my desserts sweet.
The vinegar & cornflour in the pavlova are needed to stabilise the meringue, so please don’t leave these out!
The pavlova is classic, and it nearly always will have some cracks in it but this is the nature of such large meringues so don’t worry if it happens. As long as your oven is actually the correct temperature (it’s not always what you set it to) and you DON’T open the oven door to let it cool, it’ll be dandy!
If you find you have some meringue left over (I personally didn’t) Make some mini pavlovas, and then make Eton mess with homemade meringues!
The meringue itself can be made in advance and stored at room temperature, but its very delicate. I usually make the meringue in the evening and store in the oven (turned off) till I decorate in the morning.