• Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line a flat cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Make Meringue

• Stir sugar and cornstarch together in a bowl.
• Separate egg whites and place them in a mixing bowl.

  Beat with the wire attachment at medium speed (#4 on a KitchenAid Mixer). When foamy, add the cream of tartar to the egg whites. Beat for 4 minutes at this speed.
• Increase the mixer speed to 6. Now add around one tablespoon of the sugar mixture at a time to the egg. In between each installment of sugar, whip the egg whites for at least 30 seconds.

  Adding sugar may take about 8 minutes, so take your time. After about 9-10 minutes, check the graininess of the meringue. Place a little in between your fingers and feel for grains of sugar. If you feel anything, the meringue isn’t ready and continue to mix.

  Once you feel a smooth meringue between your fingers, it's ready to sculpt.

Shape Pavlova

• If you like, make an 8-inch circle on your parchment paper. I used a bowl for my circle pattern, and I used a pen to create the outline.
• Place the meringue in the circle and build up the shape. Once you have the meringue shaped and even, then create the ridges on the outside.

  I used my fat butter knife, but you can use the back of a big soup spoon. Start at the base and go upwards. You can make a pattern that goes straight up or angled to the sides a bit.

Bake

• Place the pavlova in the middle of your oven. I removed the top baking shelf so that I had plenty of room for the tall pavlova.

  Once the pavlova is done baking, turn off the heat and leave in the oven for hours. Cooling it in the oven will prevent a drastic change in temperature, and you’ll end up with minimal cracks in the meringue.

Top Meringue

• Whip some heavy cream and add a tiny bit of sugar while whipping. Top the pavlova with whip cream and fresh fruit. You can drizzle the top with fruit syrups if you like.