The Australia's National Dish: Pavlova!

They call it the Australia's National Dish, named after Anna Pavlova, a Russian dancer, one of the finest classical ballet dancers in history.  Since I'm a big fan of meringue, I thought about it for a while and decided that I could make a Pavlova myself and why not?   I knew this would take sometime and practice, but nothing could stop me from making it.

I tried some recipes, trying to reproduce the perfect texture of Pavlova but failed to succeed.  There was always something wrong with my meringue: either shrinks or puffs over then deflates once out of the oven etc....  Luckily,  there are so many handy tips to meringue online, most of them suggest to add some cream tartar in the white eggs, bring egg whites to room temperature to ensure volume when beating, and turn the oven off and leave the meringues inside the closed oven,  etc....  Taking all these tips into account, finally my Pavlova turned out nice and delicious but there is still room for improvement. I added a touch of sesame seeds at the end before baking the meringue, I just can't help it, I love too much these little golden seeds!
Mamatkamal

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Ingredients: 

-5 medium egg white, at room temperature.  Mine were frozen, I removed them from the freezer in the morning and started to beat my meringue at about 6h pm  / 5 blanc d'oeuf taille moyenne à température ambiante. Les miens étaient congelés, je les ai sortis du congélateur le matin et j'ai commencé à faire monter ma meringue vers 18h.

-100 gr caster sugar / 100 gr sucre semoule

-2 tablespoons icing sugar / 2 c à soupe sucre glace

-Pinch of cream of tartar / Une pincée de crème de tartre.

- 3 tablespoons cornflour / 3 c à soupe de maïzena ou Amidon de maïs.

(Cornflour in the UK = cornstarch in the USA = Amidon de maïs in Quebec = Maïzena in Morocco)

-1 tablespoon golden sesame seeds / 1 c à soupe de graines de sésames.

For the topping: / Pour la garniture:

-Whipping cream / La crème fouettée

-My children's favourite fruits / Les fruits préférés de mes enfants

Method / Préparation:

1-Preheat the oven to 100°C . / Préchauffer le four à 100°C.

2-In a bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg white + cream of tartar until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the caster sugar then the icing sugar, then beat until very stiff and firm. / Dans un bol, versez le blanc + crème de tartre et  battre le blanc en neige, puis ajouter le sucre semoule puis le sucre glace, en continuant à battre de façon à obtenir une meringue bien brillante et ferme.

3-Sift the cornflour over the whites and, using a spatula, fold in carefully and thoroughly, leaving no lumps but be careful not to deflate the meringue too much. / Tamiser du maïzena sur le blanc d'oeuf et à l'aide d'une maryse, mélanger pour incoporer le tout et jusqu'à  que la meringue ne contienne aucuns grumeaux, mais faites attention de ne pas faire descendre le blanc.

4-Spoon the meringue mixture on to the prepared baking sheet, spoon one near the other so that they join up, forming a circle.  Use a knife to create tiny peaks all around the meringue./ Sur une plaque de cuisson recouverte d'un papier sulfurisé, étaler la meringue en formant un disque.  A l'aide d'un couteau, tirer la meringue pour lui donner un aspect pointu.

5-Sprinkle with sesame seeds./ Saupoudrer de graines de sésame.

6-Bake for 1 hour.  Turn the oven off and leave the meringue inside the closed oven for at least 3 hours or even  overnight.  / Faire cuire pendant 1 heure.  Eteindre le four en laissant la meringue  dedans, porte fermé et four éteint, pendant au moins 3 heures ou toute une nuit.

7-Remove the paper and put the meringue on a serving dish. Fill the Pavlova with whipped cream and top with plenty of fresh fruits. /  Placer Pavlova sur un plat de service, garnir de crème fouettée et disposer des fruits frais sur la crème.