This is one of those recipes that is great to have in your back pocket. Once you know the technique you can make dessert with a bare minimum of ingredients and such little effort.
Pavlova supposedly gets its name from the ballerina Anna Pavlova, maybe she was a fan of meringue or maybe the restaurant owner was a little smitten and wanted to charm her with dessert. Whatever the origin the country of origin is a little controversial, some claim it can be credited to Australia, others New Zealand, some people even say it has it roots in the US. Wherever the dessert hails from it spread worldwide to become one of the most popular desserts.
I generally tend to think of it as a summer dessert, pairing beautifully with summer berries, but there is nothing stopping this from being a great year round dessert, topping the meringue with whatever ingredients you have on hand.
For some reason Pavlova has a reputation of being tricky and I think that is a little unwarranted. It is a very quick process with just a few ingredients. There are a few things to bare in mind though that will help make your pavlova a success every time.
Use older egg whites. Very fresh egg whites dont whip as easily or to the same volume as older eggs, so dont pavlova with eggs straight from the supermarket. In a similar vein, dont use cold egg whites, they take longer to whisk up.
Whisk slowly. When you are whisking the meringue with the sugar, if you whisk on high speed, you’re likely get to stiff peaks before the sugar has had a chance to dissolve, which can lead to sugar leaking out of the baked pavlova. A more sedate medium speed allows the sugar to fully dissolve before getting to the perfect texture.
Add an acid and cornflour. The perfect pavlova has a crisp exterior and a soft pillowy, almost marshmallow like inside. The acid (my preference is lemon juice, I dont really like a meringue that tastes of vinegar) helps to stabilise the meringue and the cornflour helps the pavlova retain moisture, creating the characteristic soft inside.
Bake low and slow. To get that perfect pavlova texture you bake the meringue mixture initially at a relatively higher temperature to help set the outside of the pavlova and give a nice crisp crust. The temperature is then turned down low and baked slowly. This prevents the pavlova turning crunchy and also keeps it bright and white.