I have to start this post by saying that I absolutely love meringue but I used to find it so difficult to make that there was a point when I almost hated it. Anyone else felt the same?

I think I had about 5-6 failed attempts until I succeeded and that moment when I did was my very last attempt, I had told myself that if it didn’t happen I would give up forever (not over dramatic at all). But it did happen and seeing the brightside, now I have a really good knowledge on how to make meringue which hopefully will help others in a similar situation.

So these are the mistakes I have made before and how I fixed them:

1. The eggs: so when I first tried, I used eggs that I had at home and I would separate the whites from the yolks. The thing with the meringue is, the moment some egg yolk falls into the mix, it’s not gonna happen, you need to start over. I am not great at breaking eggs to be honest so I bought some Two Chicks egg whites from the supermarket. First problem sorted, my eggs now peak.
2. The temperature and the cooking time, so another struggle was getting the right temperature, most of the time, I was cooking it at a too low temperature so it looked cooked on the outside, but it would be superrunny on the inside. Other times, they would go brown and they would be superdry. After several attempts I realised that 130º celsius for 2 hours is just right.
3. The location in the oven, this may sound a bit silly, but it is so important. Put your meringues at the bottom of the oven so they don’t go brown!
4. The finishing touch, turn off the oven leave the meringues inside until the oven cools down.

So that’s all, that is the way to the perfect meringues! You will need to have a lot of time to make them, specially oven time, but it’s so worth it, I usually make them in the morning and leave them inside the oven until I need it again at lunch time.

I really hope this has been helpful to some of you!

Mini pavlovas with berries

Ingredients

For the pavlovas:

• 90 gr of egg whites (3 egg whites)
• 9 tbsp of caster sugar
• 1 tbsp of cornflour
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• 1tsp of vanilla essence

For the cream:

• 100 ml of double cream
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp of agave nectar

Process:

1. Preheat the oven at 130 degrees celsius
2. In a bowl, mix the eggs with a blender until soft peaks
3. Add the caster sugar, one tablespoon at a time and keep blending throughout. Give a few seconds in between every tablespoon
4. Once all the sugar is added, the mix should look stiff and shiny and feel a bit hard on the mixer
5. Add the vanilla, the lemon and the cornflower mix for a few more seconds
6. Cook in the oven for 2 hours and when it’s done turn the oven off and leave them inside until the oven is cold

For the cream:

1. In a bowl, mix the vanilla, the double cream and the agave and mix until soft peaks
2. Serve with the pavlovas and decorate with some berries.