Peach and Raspberry Pavlova

Serves 8. Prep 20 minutes. Cook 1 hour 15 minutes plus cooling. Start it the day before.

1. Heat the oven to 150 degrees, or 130 fan, and line a large tray with baking paper.
2. Draw a 22cm circle on the paper, then turn it over so the pencil is underneath.
3. Wipe the bowl and whisk with a little vinegar on paper towel to remove any trace of fat.
4. Whisk the egg whites with the pinch of salt to soft peaks.
5. Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, whisking for about 8 minutes in total.
6. Rub a little meringue between two fingers: if you feel grit, keep whisking, because undissolved sugar is what makes a pavlova weep.
7. Fold in the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla with a spatula, in as few strokes as possible.
8. Spoon the meringue onto the circle and shape a low mound with a shallow well in the top.
9. Slide it in, turn the temperature straight down to 120 degrees, or 100 fan, and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
10. Turn the oven off, prop the door with a wooden spoon and leave the pavlova until completely cold, ideally overnight.
11. Whip the cream to soft peaks, no further, then ripple 4 tbsp of jam through it with two strokes of a spoon.
12. Spoon the cream into the well no more than an hour before serving.
13. Top with the peaches and raspberries, spoon over the last of the jam and scatter the macadamias and shortbread.

What the jam is doing

Peach and raspberry jam is here because a pavlova made only with fresh fruit is thinner in flavour than people expect, and most weeks in December the peaches are firm and underripe. Rippling a set jam through the cream puts concentrated fruit into every spoonful regardless, and the raspberry brings the acidity that stops 330g of sugar and 600ml of cream tasting flat.

Ripple it, do not stir it. Two strokes of a spoon leaves streaks of jam in white cream. Ten strokes gives uniform pink cream. The triple berry jam from the same Daylesford range is the swap if peaches are not happening, and the shelf is in jams and spreads.

The salted macadamias are the other deliberate choice: salt against sweet meringue is what makes people go back for a second slice. Crush them coarsely. Ginger shortbread from the biscuits shelf does the same job with warmth instead of salt.

Make ahead, and leftovers

The shell is a day ahead job. Once cold, keep it airtight at room temperature, never the fridge. Assembled pavlova does not keep, so break what is left into a bowl with a spoon of jam and call it an Eton mess, and put leftover ripple cream onto Jens Traditional Melting Moments. Easy Christmas desserts and Christmas desserts for an Australian summer cover the rest of the season, and this one closes a festive entertaining table.

Common questions

Why did my pavlova crack?

Almost every pavlova cracks, and a cracked one tastes exactly the same as a smooth one. The cause is nearly always temperature: the meringue expands in the oven and contracts as it cools, and if it cools fast the outside sets before the inside has finished shrinking. Leaving it in the switched off oven with the door ajar slows that down. A shell that sinks in the middle came out too early. Either way, the cream goes over the top.

Can you make a pavlova the day before?

Yes, and the shell is better made the day before, because the overnight cool in the oven is part of the method rather than a shortcut. Bake it, turn the oven off, prop the door and leave it. Store it airtight at room temperature in the morning and it holds two days. Assembly cannot be done ahead: cream, jam and cut fruit soften meringue within two hours.

How do you stop pavlova weeping in humid weather?

Weeping is syrup leaking out of the meringue, and it has two causes: sugar that never fully dissolved, and humidity in the air. Fix the first by adding sugar a spoonful at a time and whisking until you cannot feel grit between your fingers. Manage the second by baking on a dry day where you can, keeping the shell sealed rather than under a tea towel, and not assembling early.