Pavlova Style Meringues with Berries and Whipped Cream

Pavlova, made in the Australian style, renders a crisp meringue shell with a slightly soft center.

Topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit, it’s an easy delicious dessert. A little added passionfruit (not always easy to find) adds a wonderful pop of flavor.

For best results when baking meringues in your Convection oven I recommend you choose the traditional Bake Mode. This is definitely one time when the moisture retention mode characteristic to Convection cooking wont benefit the results, for perfect  meringues the dry slow heat of traditional Bake is ideal. You will have to rotate the pans once during the baking process to ensure both pans cook evenly.

Remember to let the eggs come to room temperature for best results and also plan ahead because these meringues will need to dry out in the oven for a couple of hours before you can enjoy them.

Ingredients

6 - large room temperature egg whites

1 ¼ - cups superfine or Bakers sugar

2 - tsp cornstarch

1 - tsp distilled white vinegar

1 - tsp vanilla extract (vanilla gives the meringues a slight beige tint but adds lots of flavor)

Preparation

Organize two racks in the oven and heat the oven in the Bake mode 300 degrees. Line two large cooking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed with the whisk attachment to combine.

Increase the speed to medium and whisk until soft peaks form, approximately 4 minutes. Now increase the speed to medium high and gradually add the sugar, continue to whisk until the meringue is smooth and glossy, approximately 12 - 14 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and vanilla.

Secure the parchment paper to the pan with a dab of meringue in each corner and, using a ⅓ cup measure spoon the mixture in mounds onto the baking sheets, you can fit approximately 12 mounds on each sheet. Make a well in the center of each meringue with the back of a large spoon to hold the cream and fruit.

Place the trays in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes.  When the timer has elapsed change the positions of the pan and if you notice the meringues on the top rack were beginning to brown then reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees. Set the timer for another 20 minutes then turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven to dry out for 2 hours.

Makes 12 individual Pavlova style meringues.