Pavlova
Here is a recipe from New Zealand which will need a little translation for American cooks, and we’ll need to figure out how to adjust it for the altitude here in Missoula – 3,200 ft (about 1 km):
The Most Perfect Pavlova Recipe (from foodlovers.co.nz)
6 x size 7 egg whites (at room temperature)
1 3/4 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon Heilala vanilla extract or vanilla paste
1 tablespoon boiling water
Preheat oven to 110 C. Place egg whites in the bowl of a mixer (ensuring bowl and whisk are perfectly clean). Whisk until soft peaks form when the beater is lifted from the mixture. Continue to mix, gradually adding sugar at a tablespoon or so at a time and waiting between each addition, add cornflour with last of the sugar. Adding all of the sugar could take 5-6 minutes. Continue to mix until you can’t feel any sugar when a small amount of mixture is rubbed between your index finger and thumb. Lastly add vinegar, vanilla and boiling water and allow to mix a minute more.
Using a pencil draw a 24cm circle with a cake pan for guidance on a piece of baking paper. Place the baking paper, pencil side down, on a baking tray. Spoon the meringue into the circle, smoothing the sides.
Place the tray in the oven and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Turn the oven off without opening the door and allow to cool for at least 2 hours more or overnight.
Invert pavlova onto a serving plate, peel off baking paper and top with whipped cream and fruit.