Prep Your Work Station/Ingredients and Equipment

• Use kitchen tissue paper and white vinegar to clean the bowl and spatula.
• Separate the egg whites form the yellow. Add the whites into the bowl that you will using.
• Use the bottom of a round baking cake tin and place it on a baking tray.
• The baking tray should preferably have very low sides so that you can shift the round cake tray off with ease when your pavlova is ready.
• Place a sheet of baking paper over the round bottom cake tin covering the entire rectangular tray

Baking tray:  Lining the loose bottom of a cake tin helps with the size of the pavlova especially if you've never one this before. 

Placing the loose bottom of the cake tin on top of an oven tray helps you to balance and easier moving it when needed. 

Making Pavlova

Egg whites: Use room temperature egg whites. 

If your eggs are cold:  Take them out the fridge and separate the whites from the yellow. Then let them reach room temperature while you get the rest of the ingredients together.

There should be no trace of yellow in the whites as this could hinder the results. 

Suggestion: Use the bowl of the cake stand that you will be using to add your egg whites in or a stainless steel bowl if using a hand mixer. This prevents the egg whites being transferred from one bowl to the next when it's time to whisk them.

Baking the Pavlova:  Be careful not to bump the oven door or heavy movements in the kitchen, while the pavlova is baking (don't start moving furniture around!)

When To Stop Beating The Whites

Rub a little of the beaten whites between your fingers - if you feel no sugar at all between the fingers, you can move on to the next step but if you feel a little sugary grainy feeling between your finger keep going until its gone.

Egg Whites:  You beat only the egg whites, the dry powders are folded in with a spatula. 

Tips and Suggestions / Decorating

Carefully transfer your pavlova from the baking tray onto a cake stand. Be gentle but tag at the baking paper to pull it out from underneath. If it sticks to the paper, use a table knife to gently slide it in underneath to try and loosen the paper from the cake.

It it gets a slight crack don't despair you can cover that up with the cream. Just try and be gentle. Mine almost always has a slight crack, simply fill the cracks or leave it be, that's the beauty of a pavlova!

Decorate when serving (not hours before) with cream and fruit and remember to work gently even when adding the fruit. I find that the fruit will sink the pavlova in the center if overloaded but again, it's okay, enjoy it 🙂

After you admire yourself as true hero of the kitchen which you are!  Serve and be merry! Miranda, xx

PS.  I prefer using castor sugar because granulated takes forever in a day to dissolve! Also if you want castor and only have granulated at home, don't rush to the shop. Simple pour the granulated into a food processor and blend it into castor sugar. I use this theory in creating spice blends, if you have a grinder and the ingredient can be ground, grind it. 

Substitute cream of tartare for cider vinegar or lemon juice just as I did for my Mini Pavlovas

recipe. 

Remember that once your pavlova is cooled, you can store it at room temperature for a day or two before decorating and serving, but it must be in a container with a tight fitted lid to prevent air from entering.