Pavlova

Are you not drooling just looking at this picture? I am. If berries and real whipped cream aren't enough, they are covering delicious, cruncy yet chewy meringue. We had a day camp for the 8-11 year old girls at church. There was an international theme to the camp and I became the Australian expert for the day. Well, I made the Australian dessert, Pavlova, to accompany the Australian presentation and craft. I made individual size Pavlovas. Traditionally, I think it is strawberries and kiwi on top but I had strawberries and blueberries. I used this recipe and I had to make it twice. The first time, I didn't beat the meringue long enough and it just kind of ran together. The second time I beat it really really well (I love my KitchenAid mixer!) so the meringue was nice and thick. I forgot to put the vanilla, cornstarch, and lemon juice in the second time and it turned out fine. I wish I had taken a picture of the meringue without the cream because it is so pretty. I put about a half a cup of meringue and pressed a spoon in the center of the mound. I did follow the advice about crumpling the parchment paper which made it easy to remove the meringues from the cookie sheet. This dessert is really, really good and the possibilities are endless! The crunchiness, chewiness, creaminess. Yum!