Pavlova

Ingredients

• 6 egg whites, at room temperature
• 350 g caster sugar
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 400 ml double cream
• 300 g strawberries
• 200 g raspberries
• 4 passion fruit

Method

1. Start scrupulously clean

   Wipe the bowl and whisk with vinegar or lemon and dry them. Any trace of fat or yolk stops egg whites reaching full volume, and there is no recovering from it.

2. Whisk to soft peaks

   Whisk the whites alone until they hold a soft peak that flops over. Room temperature whites whip to noticeably more volume than fridge-cold ones.

   4 min

3. Sugar in slowly

   Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time with the whisk running, taking a good five minutes over it. Rush it and the sugar never dissolves — you get a grainy meringue that weeps amber syrup in the oven. Rub a little between your fingers: it should feel completely smooth.

   5 min

4. Fold in the marshmallow makers

   Fold in the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla. These are what give a pavlova its soft marshmallow centre rather than a meringue that is crisp all the way through — this is the difference between the two.

5. Low and slow, then leave it

   Shape into a circle with a slight dip in the middle on lined paper and bake at 120°C for 90 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave it inside until completely cold, ideally overnight. Sudden cooling is what cracks it.

   1 h 30 min

6. Assemble at the last minute

   Whip the cream to soft peaks, pile it into the dip and top with the berries and passion fruit pulp. Cream on the meringue starts softening it immediately, so assemble no more than an hour before serving.