Pavlovas are a meringue based dessert however unlike meringues a good pavlova should be soft and chewy in the middle and crispy on the outside. To achieve this most pavlova recipes will add cornflower and cook at a low temperature while allowing to cool in the oven for as long as possible. Cooling slowly helps the outside dry out without overcooking the middles. Pavlovas also normally have lemon juice, vinegar or cream of tartar as part of their ingredients. This is because the acid helps stabilise the meringue so it doesn’t collapse. I love making baby pavlovas as I think they look lovely served individually and it gives me a great opportunity to practice my piping skills.
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 200g caster sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp cornflower
- Yogurt or whipped cream
- Variety of your favourite fruits
Method
- Preheat your oven to 150°C and line 3 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Whip your egg whites to soft peaks.
- Adding your sugar, a little at a time continue whipping your eggs until you have added all the sugar and reached stiff peak consistency.
- Transfer your mixture to a piping bag with a star tipped nozzle and pipe a flat circle about 4 inches in diameter, then pipe a ring on top giving your pavlova some sides.
- Bake for 30 minutes in the oven and then leaving the oven door closed or cracked a very small amount, leave to cool in the oven for 2 hours to prevent the meringues from cracking.
- Once cool fill with yogurt and top with your choice of fruits.
#accessiability (image description: set on a black background we can see two mini pavlovas they have pretty details from the way they have been piped. They are filled with yogurt and have a slice of persimmon as well as some raspberries and blueberries on top)