Baked meringues and pavlova

Why

Meringue whisked with sugar without heating (Whipping egg whites card) is a foam from which water has to leave slowly in the oven: at roughly 90–120 °C the proteins set and the sugar hardens into a brittle, dry mass without the surface browning noticeably. At higher temperatures the air and steam inside expand faster than the surface dries, so the meringues puff up, crack, brown and sink as they cool. There is usually about one and a half to two times as much sugar as egg white by weight, and it must dissolve completely in the foam; undissolved crystals and humid air show up as beads of syrup on the surface. Sugar strongly attracts water, which is why meringues baked or stored in damp conditions soften and turn sticky and soon stop being crisp in whipped cream or in the fridge. Pavlova also contains starch and vinegar, which keep it soft inside, and as one large base it needs longer drying.

How to do it

• Bake on a dry day; add the sugar a spoonful at a time to the soft foam and whisk until a dab of meringue no longer feels gritty between your fingers.
• Set the oven to 90–120 °C and check it with a thermometer; at about 105 °C small meringues dry in 1–1.5 hours, longer at lower heat, a pavlova as the recipe says.
• Finished meringues lift off the paper by themselves and are dry underneath; then switch off the oven and let them cool inside.
• Store them in a well-sealed container at room temperature, not in the fridge, where they turn damp.
• Add whipped cream and fruit to meringues or pavlova only just before serving (Whipped cream card).

If it goes wrong

Dry sticky or soft meringues again in the oven at about 90 °C for 15–20 minutes until crisp, then let them cool inside. Beads of syrup on the surface point to undissolved sugar or damp; the meringues are edible, so next time whisk the sugar in longer and bake on a dry day. Browned, cracked meringues were in too hot an oven; they taste more of caramel. Cream and fruit will hide a cracked or sunken pavlova, and broken meringues can go into a cream-and-strawberry dessert like Eton mess.