I've been living in the US for several years and often make a pavlova for my friends at dinners. I made one this Christmas and it was probably the first I made that didn't collapse in on itself! I was pretty happy about that - baked at 200 deg F (~95C) for 1:20, then left to sit in the oven for another 0:50 until I took it out.
So anyway, nice ~6-inch diameter, 2-3-inch tall pavlova, with sides slightly taller than the center, and it sat nice and tall with lots of cream on top until I cut into it.
Then I saw it was completely empty inside! The crust was hard enough to hold the structure, and chewy, but there was just air in place of the silky soft foam on the inside that should be the filling of a good pavlova. It was tasty, but more of a giant meringue than a pavlova.
I really want to master this - I feel I'm getting closer with it not collapsing this time, and probably used lower temperature than I have before, but I still need to get that soft smooth foam in the middle to get this right.
Did I leave it cooking too long or too hot, still?
