Here are my tips for making a perfect meringue and pavlova base to make this delicious Moroccan Inspired Meringue Recipe

Here are my tips:

A scrupulously clean bowl is paramount. Stainless steel, glass, or ceramic is best, and definitely no plastic, as it can hold fats not visible to the eye.

Use very fresh eggs. Fresh eggs have a thicker white, which gives you a stable mixture for baking with less chance of the batter splitting before it hits the oven.

Eggs are best separated when they are cold. I like to separate my eggs as soon as they are out of the fridge, then let them reach room temperature before whisking (10-15 minutes).
To ensure that no yolk gets into your egg whites, separate each egg into two small bowls — one for the white and one for the yolk — and then add the whites to the one large bowl.

I add both cornflour and an acid (lemon juice, cream of tartar, white vinegar) to help stabilise the mixture.
Cornflour can stop the meringues from weeping. The acid (in my case, vinegar) can prevent the mixture from splitting. Don’t use a copper bowl if adding acid to your mix. I now add these stabilisers to the egg whites before the whisking begins.

Meringues don’t like humidity, so my advice is not to make meringue on a humid day, or there may be tears.

The egg whites must be at soft peaks before the sugar is added gradually. Each addition should be completely dissolved before the next one goes in. Your mixture is ready when it is smooth & glossy, and all sugar is completely dissolved. I use caster sugar instead of granulated sugar as the tiny crystals dissolve more efficiently and thoroughly. You can take a small amount of the mixture and rub it between your fingertips to ensure the sugar has dissolved.

Always whisk on medium-high speed, never at high speed, until soft peaks form. Whisking on high speed will give a frothy consistency to the mixture, which will almost guarantee that cracks and weeps when baking.

If time is on your side, allow your meringue to cool in the oven with the oven turned off and the door slightly ajar. Meringues can crack when the temperature changes suddenly.

Moroccan inspired Meringue Recipe

with Pomegranates

Serves 10-12

330g caster sugar

1 tbsp cornflour

1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

250g Mascarpone

200ml cream, whipped

15g Icing sugar

1 teaspoon rose water

50g caster sugar

40 ml boiling water

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

1 teaspoon sumac

Seeds of 1 pomegranate

Strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

Freeze dried raspberry powder
Dried rose petals

Preheat oven to 120°C.

Place the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl along with the cornflour and vinegar. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the caster sugar, a little at a time, allowing each to be well incorporated, so you end up with a thick, glossy meringue.

Spoon the pavlova mix into 10-12 individual mounds. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 90 minutes. Turn the oven off, leaving the pavlovas to cool inside.

Place the cream in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the icing sugar and rose water, and whisk just until combined. Keep in the fridge until required.

Mix the caster sugar with 40ml of boiling water and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the pomegranate molasses and sumac, stir to combine and set aside.

When pavlovas are cool, place each one on a serving plate, top with a whipped cream/mascarpone mixture, add sliced strawberries, and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Finish with a drizzle of the pomegranate sugar syrup.

Serve with mint leaves and freeze-dried raspberry powder & dried rose petals (optional). Serve immediately.

*For a vegan-friendly meringue recipe, use 2 tablespoons of chickpea water (aquafaba) for every 1 egg white.

This recipe is from Relish Mama: Family. Find more recipes and stories.