First attempt at a strawberry pavlova!!!

This has been my favourite dessert since childhood, and my granny would always make it after Sunday dinner in the summer months. I've been meaning to give it a go for as long as I can remember, but today I finally pulled my finger out and got to it... this is the result!

It's far from perfect but my tester was surprised to discover that it was the first time I ever made it, and to be honest, I quite impressed myself. :D

In case you fancy making this too, the ingredients & instructions are as follows:

• 5 egg whites, whisked until stiff

• 1 tsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 1 tsp cornflour all whisked in [my humble opinion after just one try is that half a teaspoon of vanilla essence would suffice, and perhaps a little extra cornflour!]

• Once the meringue mixture is stiff and glossy-looking, spoon or pipe it onto a circle of baking paper (around 20cm) on a tray with the edges of the circle higher than the centre

• Then simply bake for 1hr at 130 degrees Celsius - after 1 hour leave it to cool in the oven until the oven is no longer warm. [I was a little too keen and didn't leave it to cool for long enough. It was yummy enough, but I reckon it would have been even chewier if I'd had a shred more self-restraint!]

In the meantime, whip up some double cream and chop up your favourite summer fruits to top it when it is completely cool.

What do you think?

What I think is...

Strawberry pavlova = edible happiness.