Every year I have a Christmas Pavlova as part of the dessert selection of our Christmas lunch, especially because it’s BERRY SEASON! There is no better option to show off all those lovely raspberries, blueberries and cherries than to pile them high onto a sweet meringue filled with vanilla pod cream. How festive!

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Whisk egg whites and salt until peaks form, then add sugar bit by bit until the meringue is stiff and shiny.
Sprinkle the cornflour and vinegar over the meringue and fold in. Line a tray with baking paper. Form a dinner plate sized pavlova base with a slight hollow in the centre. Spoon it rather than piping it (I think it looks way better with a slightly rustic, homemade look).

Reduce the oven to 150°C. Bake the meringue for 1+ hours (this part can be tricky, depending on your oven it may even need an hour and a half). Leave in the oven to dry out further. The trick is to turn off your oven and let it cool down slowly with the pavlova inside; this way it won’t crack too much. Don’t worry if it does because you can cover up any imperfections with loads of cream and berries.

Vanilla pod cream:
Whisk together the cream, castor sugar, vanilla seeds and vanilla extract. Ladle over the cooled pavlova and then pile on different types of berries – the more the merrier! Garnish with crushed pistachio nuts and halved granadillas for an even more impressive effect.

I used berries and fresh mint leaves for decoration.