Australian Recipe

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup superfine² sugar (granulated)
• 1 tablespoon corn flour (cornstarch³)
• half pint⁴ whipped cream5 (one cup)
• strawberries or your choice of fruit such as passion fruit⁶, kiwi fruit...

Place egg whites in a clean glass bowl. Beat slowly until frothy⁷, then increase the speed and beat until stiff⁸. Gradually⁹ add the sugar, beating well after each addition. (When all the sugar has been added, the mixture should be shiny, very stiff, and should stand in peaks.) Gently fold in¹⁰ the corn flour with a metal spoon. Line a cookie sheet¹¹ with brown paper¹² and grease¹³ it lightly. Pile the meringue¹⁴ mixture on it. Slow-bake the mixture at 150°C to dry all the moisture¹⁵ and create the meringue, approximately 45 minutes. This leaves the outside of the pav¹⁶ a crisp¹⁷ crunchy¹⁸ shell, while the interior remains soft and moist. When cooked, turn off the oven and leave the door open to let the pav cool on the oven shelf – this helps to prevent the middle of the pav from collapsing¹⁹ (although if it does collapse, generous²⁰ application of cream hides any mistakes).
When cold, peel off the paper and transfer to a serving platter²¹. Slice the strawberries in half and roll in icing sugar²², and refrigerate. Cover top of the pav with whipped cream about 1 hour before serving.

N.B. Turn the pav upside down before decorating with cream and fruit because the bottom is less crispy than the top after cooking and, unless you serve it immediately after decorating, the “top” absorbs²³ moisture from the cream.