Pavlova

Ingredients
4 egg whites, room temp (if you forget to get out ahead of time like I do you can place eggs in a bowl of warm – not hot – water for five minutes)
1 cup sugar for base plus a handful for whipping cream
1 tsp cornstarch or potato starch (for Passover)
1 tsp cider vinegar (not so secret key!)
1 pt heavy whipping cream (you can use 1/2 pt but I use it all because it tastes good)
3/4 tsp vanilla (1/2 tsp for base and 1/4 tsp for whipping cream)
Tools
Fruit or lemon curd (or both) to top
Baking pan
Parchment paper
Mixer (hand or stand)

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F  (121 C).
2. Line baking pan with parchment paper.
   
   Make Meringue
3. Using mixer, whisk egg whites to stiff peaks.
4. Add 1 c of the sugar about 1/4 cup at a time till stiff glossy peaks. Stiff means the peaks can stand on their own, no curl on top.
5. Sift (or just sprinkle) in cornstarch/potato starch on top.
6. Add in 1/ 2 tsp vanilla and cider vinegar then FOLD GENTLY to mix together. Don’t get crazy you don’t want to knock all the air out.
7. Spoon meringue mixture into baking sheet into whatever shape you would like. I tend to go oval but it’s sticky stuff so just try to get it as even as possible about 1-2″ high.
8. Bake for 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 hours until meringue is just just starting to turn light golden. Then turn the oven off and let it cool in oven (unopened) overnight if possible. This gets rid of any excess moisture as it cools. Even an hour or two if you are running low on time makes a difference.
   
   Top and Eat
9. Whip cream with handful of sugar (I literally throw a handful of sugar and don’t measure) plus final 1/4 tsp of vanilla until it becomes whip cream.
   • You can make whip cream a few hours (or even a day) ahead of time and refrigerate. I would highly recommend doing this vs topping meringue and letting that site for hours ahead of time – it will get soggy.
10. Spread whip cream on meringue and top with fruit, lemon curd or really anything you want.
11. EAT!!