I have a very dear friend here in the USA, but she is from Australia. She has been so good to me and my family this year and I want to do something nice for her. I want to make her pav for Christmas. So I did a trial run this past weekend and thought I did great. I used the Joy of Cooking recipe and it was nice and smooth in texture and beautifully shinny. I cooked it and it looked perfact. About 4" thick and just the right color.

When I went to turn it over, it exploded! I mean the shell that formed around it blew apart and the marshmelloy inside was only about 1.5" thick. It was tender but kind of dense yet tasted good and was smooth.

I need help to find out what went wrong!

I'm confused as to why you would turn it over? You should let the meringue cool completely before touching it, and there shouldn't be any "turning over" at all.

I have read that not a smidge of yolk can get into your whites. As well as any grease at all. Could either of these things have impacted you??? I know that when I have made meringues I don't think I beat my whites with my sugar enough between additions and the inside is not as it should be when they are done...

I wanted to forward this recipe too...it has a lot of great reviews attached that might help...I know that the first time I made meringues I preheated the oven and then turned it off when the meringues went in...they sat on the cookie sheet overnight in the oven and they were perfect...I saw that is how someone in the reviews even recommended it be done...hmmm
Good Luck!!!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Pavlova/Detail.aspx

I'm with pinkziab.. I've never heard of flipping a pavlova. That there could have been your main issue.

You should cook it.. let it cool in the oven with the door ajar.. top with whipped cream and fruit and serve immediately.

Did your recipe say to flip it?

OK....now I am going to make one.........

OK....now I am going to make one.........

LOL.. I want to make one too.

I make these all the time almost every Sunday for dessert and I cannot for the life of me imagine why you turned it over either.

If it was meringue I would say that would have worked but not with pavlova and it's soft centre.

I spread mine into a circle and just bake and then decorate.

If you want a pavlova that has high sides so that you can fill the centre you can just pipe the mixture around the edge of your base circle before you bake it.

I agree, you don't turn your pavlova over. Once you have cooked the pav, just turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let the pav cool in the oven.
The middle sinks conveniently to fill with the cream and fruit.
This would have to be the best and easiest dessert. Over here in Australia you can buy pavlovas already made from the supermarket, you just have to decorate them. I find these ones are usually higher than the home made ones and don't sink in the middle. Not sure if you can buy them in the US.

This is so funny, I made my first Pavlova this past weekend for our poker night. I wanted something different than reg. cake, so I stubbled upon Pav. Never heard of it before that. Mine baked up fine, soft center crisp outside~I also made a well in the center before baking. I lightly greased the parchment prior to baking and that worked well too, I read that some crumple the parchment and that works for them. I was scared to move it to the dessert plate, I thought it would crumble, but it was ok. Served with strawberries & fresh whipped cream. Yumm...gone in minutes. Even my husband who hates cake loved it. Flipping it? Well, don't worry about it. Chalk it up to experience and make another.

OK well thank you for your sujestions. I will make the well and not flip it. It really was yummy and for a dessert, one of the healthest I have ever played with. I was just so disappoited when the insides ended up half of what the shell cooked up to be. I found out later that my husband had opened the door while it was baking and one of my kids snictch a finger full of batter while my back was turned. Would a finger in the batter be enougth oil to make it fall?

Even if it falls like that, it would make a great center of a grahm cracker pie.

I wil let you know how my next attempt turns out.

I also find that fresh eggs will make it fall, could it have been that? They need to be at least 3 or 4 days old.

Next time you kill your pavlova turn it into an Eaton Mess - break up into smaller pieces of meringue, mix with whipped cream and strawberries / raspberries ( i think that's all ) - it's a dessert in it's own right over here

yummy, I love Eaton mess too.

Your pav is meant to sink in the middle, so don't worry too much if it does. You might not have whipped the egg whites quite enough or incorporated the sugar in totally. Also, have the egg whites at room temperature, that helps get the volume into them. Use metal spoon to fold in cornflour etc, make sure bowl and other utensils you use are TOTALLY free of any grease etc as this stops the eggs from whipping up fully. But, even if it doesn't turn out to utter perfection it is still the yummiest thing to eat, especially when you top with whipped cream, strawberries and passionfruit pulp. Oh, gee, I'm putting weight on talking about it!!

Chez

I love to make pavlova! It's my dh's favorite dessert. The recipe I got from a lady from N.Zealand said to turn the pavlova part way through baking. I tried it once- never again. I never bother to turn it. I've gone a bit "American" with it, when I am in a rush, and use Cool Whip on top, with berries. It's such a great dessert- and so easy to make!

OK, I am begining to think I am cursed witht his desert! This time I went better as in the insides did not fall, but the texture was more rubbery and I could not get it off the foil.

Did I not cook it long enough?

I heated the over to 350, turned it off and put the pav in until the oven was completely cool. I was a little cold last night in the house. I thought maybe the oven cooled too quick.

I just wanted to thank each of you for your advise. She loved her Christmas present and nearly ate the whole thing in one sitting. My family liked it so much too, with all the practice pav's I made, that it is now a requested confection. Thank you for your help!