Blueberry Eton Mess

Step 1

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Step 2

Whip the egg whites and vanilla to soft peaks and gradually add the sugar slowly, whipping until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Step 3

Pinch the meringue between your fingertips to feel that all of the sugar granules have completely dissolved. Sprinkle the meringue with the corm=n starch and vinegar.

Step 4

Fold in the corn starch and vinegar gently with a rubber spatula.

Step 5

This step helps a crisp crust to form on the meringue. Drop the meringue onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread it out into a 9 inch circle.

Step 6

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until small cracks appear in the meringue.

Step 7

Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and allow the pavlova to cool completely in the oven.

Step 8

Bring the berries and sugar to a gentle boil.

Step 9

Mix the corn starch with the water and add slowly to the boiling berry mixture stirring constantly.

Step 10

Boil gently for 1 additional minutes stirring constantly. Cool completely.

Step 11

Whip the cream, icing sugar and vanilla to firm peaks

Step 12

Gently fold in 1/2 of the blueberry compote.There is no need to fully fold in the compote. Leaving streaks of compote ribboned through the whipped cream is desirable.

Step 13

Simply cut the pavlova into 2 or 3 inch pieces and layer the pieces alternately with the whipped cream and compote mixture.

Step 14

A trifle dish as pictured, works well. Finish the dessert by adding the remaining blueberry compote on top of the dessert.