Darwin: The Domestic Goddess Part 12

For a change I thought I'd try my hand at a non-chocolate dessert. Shocking, I know.

I was curious about trying out a Pavlova. The name itself just sounds so pretty, it always conjures up a mental image of a dessert as pretty and light as a ballerina's tutu. So armed with the recipe instructions I set to work.

Whisk four egg whites in a clean dry bowl until they form stiff peaks. The eggs need to be at room temperature, not straight off the fridge, else the meringue won't come out right. Whisk in sugar a spoonful at a time. Dumping it all in one go will just make the meringue heavy, and we need it to be light and airy. Add a bit of vinegar and cornflour to make it all stiff.

Spoon onto the centre of a baking tray and shape it into a circle, building up the sides so that they're higher than the centre. Bake for 1 hour, then switch off oven but leave meringue inside to cool gradually. Taking it out too soon will make it split from cooling too fast.Once cooled, the filling can be made. I was spoilt for choice with this but opted for a lemon and kiwi pavlova, as it seemed pretty easy.

Condensed milk was whipped together with double cream and the juice of three large lemons. This is then poured into the centre of the pavlova and left in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Garnish with kiwi-fruit and serve.
How pretty is that?!