- Pre-heat the oven to 150C.
- Flip a dinner plate upside down onto baking paper and use a pencil to trace around the perimeter of the plate.
- Pop the egg whites into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat with a whisk attachment (this can also be done by hand) until stiff peaks have formed.
- Add the caster sugar in a little at a time, mixing in between each addition of sugar. Once all the sugar has been added, you can add the vinegar, corn flour, and the vanilla, then mix to combine.
- Flip the baking paper you used to trace the plate upside down onto a large baking tray and spoon the meringue inside the circle, creating a dip or crater in the middle of the meringue – this will be for the cream and berries once ready.
- Put the tray into the preheated oven for one hour. Turn the oven off and allow the meringue to cool completely in the oven before proceeding – this step can be done the day before if preferred.
- Halve the strawberries and pop a good handful into the bowl of a food processor with the 2 tablespoons of icing sugar. Blitz to a puree and then pass through a strainer, discarding any seeds.
- Add the remaining strawberries and any other berries into the bowl with the strained berry mixture and carefully fold together.
- Whip the cream with the remaining icing sugar until you have stiff peaks.
- To assemble, spoon the whipped cream into the crater of the now cooled pavlova base.
- Now you can add whatever toppings you desire!
Pavlova Base
Recipe by Tobie Puttock
Once you've got the base right, you can decorate with whatever in-season ingredients you've got available to you!
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 250g caster sugar
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp cornflour or cornstarch
- 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
- For the cream:
- 300ml pouring cream
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
