Summer Pavlova Recipe!

The 7th August brought some beautiful summer weather and with it my dad's birthday. Because it was such a glorious day we didn't do a huge amount aside from sit in the garden and eat pavlova. Of course you can buy the meringue and construct it yourself but shop bought is never as good as homemade. My mother's been making this for years and it's the perfect summer afternoon treat.

Below I'm going to show you how to go about recreating this sumptuous desert!

You will need:

- 5 egg whites

- 275 grams / 10oz caster sugar

- 2 tsp white wine vinegar

- 2 tsp cornflower

For the filling...

- 250ml / 8fl oz double cream

- 1 tbs caster sugar

- 350g / 8fl oz greek yogurt

- 100 - 175g strawberries

- 100 - 175g rasberries

- 50 -1 00g blueberries

Step 1

- Start by preheating the oven to 150C / 300F / Gas mark 2.

- Lightly grease and line two oven safe baking trays using non-stick baking parchment. 

Step 2

- Place the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl and whisk using an electric hand whisk until the egg whites are holding stiff peaks. In other words they should be solid enough that you wouldn't fear holding them upside down, over your head!

Step 3

 - Gradually whisk in the sugar two tablespoons at a time. This is the key part: if you don't have the patience necessary, your meringue won't rise and will be dense. 

- Ensure that the mixture is stiff again after each new edition of sugar.

- When all the sugar is mixed in and the mix has a glossy texture add the wine vinegar and cornflower, folding in gently. 

Step 4

- Your mixture is now complete. Spoon out around two thirds of the mix onto the first baking tray and the rest onto the second. The mix should now be around one inch thick and vaguely round in shape. 

- Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 120C / 250F / gas mark 1/2 

- Bake for 50-55 minutes until crisp on the outside.

Step 5

- Transfer the meringues onto a wire rack to cool down and carefully pull away the grease proof paper. 

- Leave to cool completely.

Step 6

- Make the filling:

- Whip the cream with the sugar until it holds its shape, then fold in the yogurt.

Step 7

- Your meringue is now ready to construct!

- Take the largest meringue circle and place it onto a large desert plate. Add a generous layer of the cream mix and sprinkle with summer fruits.

- Place the second layer of meringue down over the top and repeat adding the cream and fruits.

Voila!