Show off Your Baking Skills with a Deceptively Easy Berry Meringue

Make sure everything that is going to touch the egg whites, the bowl, mixer, and whisk attachment, are clean. Any residual fat will prevent your meringue from reaching its full height.

Move the baking rack to the bottom of the oven and preheat it to 250° Fahrenheit.

Take a mixing bowl and trace a circle in pencil on a sheet of parchment paper. Flip it upside down and place it on a cooking sheet. This will give you a general outline for your meringue.

Mix the sugar and cornstarch together.

Separate the egg whites from the yolks. It helps to do this one egg at a time into a smaller bowl before transferring them to the mixing bowl so that if a yolk ruptures, you don’t have to throw out all of your hard earned whites.

With the whisk attachment, begin whipping the egg whites on medium until they look frothy like the example below.

Turn up the speed to medium-high and begin adding the sugar and cornstarch mixture a spoonful at a time.

Once the sugar has been added, turn up the speed to high and watch as the meringue develops the texture of marshmallow fluff. The technical term for when you want to stop whipping the eggs is u0022stiff peaksu0022 but I just whip them until they are thick and glossy with the whisk leaving defined trails even after you stop the mixer. Another trick is to rub a bit of the mixture in your fingers, it is ready when you cannot feel any more sugar grit.

Remove the whisk and scrape off the meringue.

Mix the extracts and vinegar and pour into the mixing bowl. Gently fold into the meringue with a spatula. It’s a little weird putting vinegar in a dessert, but I promise you won’t be able to taste it and it helps stabilize the tiny bubbles that you’ve worked so hard to form.

Use the spatula to spread the meringue out inside the circle you drew earlier. I like to leave the edges messy, but you can also smooth them out. Both ways will look great!

Place the meringue on the bottom rack of the oven and set a timer for an hour. The key to a crispy crust and marshmallowy center is to bake low and slow.

When the meringue shell feels dry to the touch, prop the oven open with a wooden mixing spoon and let cool slowly for another hour. This minimizes the cracks that occur with rapid cooling.

However, don’t worry if you see cracks forming on your meringue, they are usually unavoidable and most of them will be covered by the topping anyway.

Remove the meringue from the oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack. If you’re not planning on serving the pavlova the same day, cover it well with saran wrap or place it in an airtight container. It should keep its crunch for a few days.

When you are almost ready to serve the pavlova, pour the cold heavy cream into the mixing bowl with the sugar and vanilla and whip it on high until it holds its shape. Pro tip: if you over-whip the cream, just add more cream a spoonful at a time until it looks smooth again.

Spread the whipped cream over the meringue shell and top with berries.