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1
Note: prep and cook times do not include the time needed to cool the pavlova (approximately 2 hours).
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2
Heat the oven to 165C (150 fan forced, 330F, or 300F fan forced). Grease a 30cm (12-inch) Swiss roll tray and line with baking paper.
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3
Separate your eggs, making sure to get no egg yolk at all mixed in with the whites. Even a minuscule amount and the pav will not work. It is also important for the eggs to be at room temperature; leave them out overnight or if you are in a bind, set them in some warm (not hot or boiling!) water for 5-10 minutes.
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4
In the (clean!) bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl, add the egg whites. Beat until stiff peaks form and then add the sugar one third (1/3) at a time, beating well after each addition. Once the sugar has all been beaten in, stop the mixer and add the corn flour, vanilla and vinegar. Mix in quickly.
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5
Spread the mixture out evenly over the tray using a spatula and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes (the top should have a nice bit of colour to it, but not be overly brown). Do not open the door during the cooking time! Turn off the oven and leave the pavlova in the cooling oven for 15 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tray.
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6
To make the berry salad, hull and slice the strawberries and place in a medium bowl with the raspberries. Sprinkle over the caster sugar, chopped basil and balsamic vinegar. Mix together gently and allow to stand for a good 5-10 minutes, stirring the berries occasionally to coat in the balsamic.
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To make the filling simply mix the mascarpone, yoghurt (you want a good tangy yoghurt here, sheep's milk, Greek or something of the like; don't be tempted to use a sweet vanilla yoghurt as the berry salad and the pav add a lot of sweetness to the dish) and vanilla bean paste (or beans scraped from one pod) together in a medium mixing bowl using a spatula until well combined.
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8
Once your pavlova has cooled, spread out a clean tea towel and dust well with the icing sugar. Turn out your pav onto the towel and gently remove the baking paper. Spread the filling mixture over the pav, leaving 5cm (2 inches) at one end so that the filling doesn't spill out when you roll the pav up.
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9
Now, using the tea towel, start at the end that has filling all the way to the edge and roll your pavlova into a log shape and place directly onto the serving platter with the rolled edge on the bottom. Dust the top with more icing sugar and spoon the berry basil salad over the top, not leaving those lovely balsamic juices behind. Serve immediately.
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10
I make all the components of this before dinner and then just quickly assemble it before serving. The pav could even be made a day head and then stored in an airtight container overnight, or gently rolled up and covered in Glad wrap.
