Berry and Kiwi Pavlova

A light dessert that's pleasing to the eye and hell of easy to make! The secret to a good pavlova lies really in the meringue base. Get the base light and crisp on the outside and slightly soft and marshmellowy on the inside, and you're almost there!

The next steps are literally child's play. I whipped up some cream and got my 5 year old daughter and 7 year old nephew to pile the cream followed by the cleaned and sliced fruits on top. The dessert was then good to go.

The meringue base may be kept up to 2 days in an airtight container. Hence, you can make this in advance and pile on the topping only upon serving. Takes only 5-10 minutes. However, once the cream and fruits are spooned over the meringue base, the pavlova can keep in the fridge for only a couple of hours before it starts to soften.


Ingredients :


Meringue base
5 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp of white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp cornflour


Topping
1 cup cream for whipping
5-6 large strawberries, sliced
80 g blueberries
1 kiwi fruit, sliced




Methodology

1. Beat egg whites until soft peaks are formed.

For best results, the egg whites have to be beaten at room temperature. Make sure that the beater and mixing bowl is absolutely grease-free. Otherwise, the beaten egg whites won't rise.

2. When soft white peaks begin to appear, gradually add in the sugar while continuing with the whipping.

3. When egg whites are stiff, glossy and white, sprinkle some cornflour and the white vinegar over the mixture and continue to whip the mixture for another few seconds.

4. Draw a circle with a diameter of  8-9 inches (depending on how wide or high you want your meringue to be) on some greased baking sheet. Spoon your whipped egg white right into the middle of the circle.

5. Using the back of a spoon, gently spread the whipped whites out to the edges of your drawn circle.  Try to shape a hollow a slight indent in the middle to hold the whipped cream.

Place in pre-heated oven at 130 degrees celsius for about 50 minutes.

6. Meringue is done when it's a pale golden in colour and lightly crisp on the outside. Leave the meringue to cool in the oven (with the oven door slightly ajar) for a further hour or until meringue is completely cool.   (You may make the meringue ahead of time)

7. Upon serving, whip up some cream. Spread the whipped cream over the cooled meringue.  (I like my cream without sugar as the meringue itself is pretty sweet.)

*See note below for tips in whipping cream successfully*

8. Pile the cleaned, sliced and chilled fruits on the whipped cream to decorate and flavour your meringue dessert.

9. Lo and behold, the berry and kiwi pavlova is ready to be served.

*Note on whipping up your cream*

For best results, cream should be whipped straight out of the refrigerator. It would help to chill the mixing bowl and whipping utensils right before whipping your cream to ensure the cream remains cool during whipping.  Otherwise, the cream may fail to rise and stiffen. I've learnt the hard way :)