Meringue is easy. I shall say it again MERINGUE IS EASY. I have no idea why there is a great mystique about meringue being hard, or people being in awe of those that can make meringue. I remember as a child at home there was one person in the village that was always asked to make meringues for fetes and coffee mornings; because they “could make good meringues”. In my opinion the hardest thing for me about meringue is being able to spell it correctly – and that is easy a RING of Pavlova MeRINGue (although I still often type it merigune). So it is time to conquer those meringue fears and make a Pavlova and impress your guests and become a super chef in their eyes (after all there is no need to tell them just how easy it is). My method makes a Pavlova with a crisp outside and a soft marshmallowly inside which is my idea of perfection.
The most important thing to remember about meringue – a smudge of grease or fat will make you fail, so make sure that your mixing bowl and mixer are scrupulously clean, and separate your eggs one by one into a cup before adding them to the rest of the egg whites; along with fat a speck of egg yolk will lead to an unsuccessful Pavlova.
Many recipes call for the addition of vinegar and cornflour, having tried either, neither or both I have seen no difference to the finished meringue. There is also no need to bother with caster/superfine sugar either – if you have some great – but do not bother to buy it (or grind granulated to caster as my mother used to). Just use what is to hand. Easy.
Ingredients
Meringue
Egg whites (2 per 3 people)
2oz (50g) White sugar per egg white
Filling
Whipped double cream
Fruit
Place the egg whites into a bowl or your food processor; having separated them one by one in case you break a yolk. Whisk either with a hand beater or in the processor (this takea about 10 mins with my Magimix) until white and fluffy and holding a peak. Continue whisking adding the sugar in about 4 goes. When done the mixture will be white and glossy and standing in peaks when you stop whisking. This should take no more than 10 minutes with a hand held blender for a 6 egg Pavlova. If you use caster sugar it will take less time as it will dissolve quicker, a dab of the mixture will feel smooth between your fingers when the sugar has dissolved, if there is any grittiness continue whisk for another few minutes.
Place a sheet of greaseproof paper onto a flat metal baking sheet and heat the oven to GM2/150C/300F. There is no need for expensive baking parchment – standard supermarket greaseproof paper will do.
“Plop” the meringue mix onto the paper covered baking tray, and using a spoon ease it out to form a circle (about 8″ diameter for a 4 egg mix, 12-14″ for a 6 egg mix), gently push it into a nest shape raising the sides, if it has been whisked enough it will keep its shape.
Put into the preheated oven, immediately turning the temperature down to GM1/140C/275F. Bake for 40 – 60 mins until the cake is a very light golden, and sound hollow when lightly tapped. Close the oven door, turn off and leave to cool completely (I leave mine overnight – just remember to remove the Pavlova before you turn the oven on again).
Carefully peel the pavlova from the greaseproof paper and place on a flat serving dish – it will keep like this for several days in a non humid place covered in cling film or in an ait tight box. Don’t worry if the pavlova cracks, you can cover them with the whipped cream.
To serve fill with whipped cream and your choice of fruit shortly before serving.
Now impress your friends – I can never bear to make the first cut as I hate that the entire thing collapses when cut so I always get everyone to serve themselves!
Options
Use golden sugar to make a more toffee flavoured Pavlova which is lovely with a chestnut cream, toasted nuts and apricots. Or make Chocolate Pavlova.
If you need to store the Pavlova for longer, pop it into a plastic bag and suck all air out – apparently it will keep for several months like this – but I have not tried this yet – not that it would last this long in my flat before I ate it!
Egg whites freeze very well, so if you have left overs from using yolks pop then in a pot in the freezer until you next make Pavlova, defrost in the fridge and bring to room temperature.
Use left over egg yolks in Broccoli and Smoked Salmon Tortilla .
I’ve always been to scared to make a meringue! Your post has proved me wrong. I have bookmarked to have a go on Saturday when I have a friend coming over for dinner!!
Good Luck Alice,
Let me know how it goes, like everything they sometimes just do not work, so just have another go if need be.
Use up the egg yolks in frittatas.
I agree with everything you say about meringue. Baked alaska is a favourite too. Have you ever tried chocolate pav – as seen in Nigella Lawson’s Forever Summer? Soooo Good!
I have made a chocolate pavlova before. Its in the blog somewhere!
I’m so glad you said that, meringue is one of the few things I can make without anything going wrong!
i have made nigella’s choc pav 4 times..the first two times it was perfect, but the last two have gone wrong, and the meringue seems to go flat…im using the same technique do i use 1 tsp of cornflour to every egg? or none at all,its driving me nuts what am i doing wrong
I had a flat pav the other day and I came to the conclusion that the eggs were far too fresh, I was away and they were from the farm down the road and had been laid the day before.
When making in the food processor you need to whisk for a good 5 mins before adding the sugar.
And make sure that there is not a spot of grease when whisking egg whites as they will collaspe and make sure that they are at room temperature.
i find no difference using cornflour or not, so simply do not bother now.
I plan to make a pavlova in the next few weeks and yours is exactly the image I have in my mind as to how I want it to look! Yum
I totally dig the blog, thanks for sharing the info. It’s not too often that you find a blog where the writer knows what they are talking about. Grammar and spelling are dead perfect as well, only thing was I seemed to have was bringing up the website, seemed to take a while. Any other replies have the same issue?