Margaret Fulton's Pavlova

Another wet day here at home, so what better thing to do but bake? With plenty of eggs sitting in the fridge and some cream nearing it's expiry date, what's better than to decide to bake a pav! I used 4 egg white and 1 1/2 cups caster sugar in this recipe, which Margaret recommends for a smaller, family-sized pavola, but leaving everything else the same. I also always dust my baking sheet with cornflour when baking pavs to ensure it doesn't stick!! Enjoy.

*Taken from 'Margaret Fulton's Kitchen'*

Ingredients

6 egg whites, at room temperature

a pinch of salt

2 cups caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/4 cups cream

fresh fruit to decorate

Method

Preheat oven to 200C. Place a piece of baking paper onto a baking tray and mark a 23cm circle on it to use as a guide (the pavlova will spread a little).

In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt at full speed until they stand in stiff peaks. Sift the sugar and gradually sprinkle into the egg white mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at high speed until all the sugar has been added. Lastly fold in the vinegar and vanilla. Spoon large dollops inside the circle on the baking sheet and smooth over the top lightly. Place in the oven (reducing the heat to 150C) for 1 hour. Turn off the heat and leave pavlova in the oven until cold. (If using a gas oven, bake at 150C for 1 hour, reduce heat to 120C for a further 30 minutes and then turn heat off and leave the pavola in the oven until completely cooled.)

When the pavlova is cooled, slide onto a large, flat cake plate, removing the baking paper. Don't worry if it collapses slightly, you should also expect cracks on the surface. Whip the cream until stiff but still shiny and spoon over the top of the pavlova. Decorate with fresh fruit and serve.

Serves 8-10