Book of Days Tales

The last Sunday in September is customarily when daylight savings time begins in New Zealand because in the southern hemisphere summer begins in September.  Time to make a pavlova. Australians and New Zealanders battle endlessly over who invented this classic dessert with OED 3 seemingly having the final say. Pavlova appeared in New Zealand cookbooks first – in the 1920s – and did not show up in Aussie cookbooks until the 1940s. Quod erat demonstrandum as the pedants like to say, although I would not care to argue that year of appearance in cookbooks is definitive. Nonetheless, for the sake of a recipe I will accept the claim.

Pavlova is a meringue base topped with fruit and whipped cream. The shape and thickness of the base vary according to cook’s choice. When I lived in Australia as a boy, the cooks I knew used to make a fairly thin round base with a wall of meringue piped around the edge so that this shell could hold an abundance of fruit and cream. Nowadays it is more common to simply spread the meringue in a circle and place the fruit and cream on top – maybe with a slight indentation in the middle. You decide. The fruit used is also cook’s choice. I prefer soft berries.

Ingredients

4 egg whites
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup superfine sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fruit, sliced if necessary
1 ½ cups lightly sweetened whipped cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° F/200° C

Line a shallow baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large dry bowl, sprinkle the cream of tartar over the egg whites and beat until stiff. Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the mixture to the egg whites a tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed, until all the ingredients are combined. The meringue should be shiny, white, and stiff. Fold in the vanilla extract.

Reduce oven heat to 200° F/95° C

Mound the meringue on the baking sheet in a round shape about 6 inches in diameter, making a shallow dent in the center. Bake for 1 hour. Turn off the oven, leaving the meringue in the oven until it has cooled or overnight.

Top with whipped cream and arrange your choice of fruit over the top.