Pavlova with whipped cream and berries

Heat the oven to 300. Separate four large eggs, with no trace of yolk in the whites; add the whites one at a time to a very clean mixer bowl (wipe it with vinegar or lemon juice if in doubt). Separate cold, then let the whites come to room temperature.

Add a pinch of salt and the cream of tartar; mix on medium-low one to two minutes until frothy.

Still on medium-low, sprinkle in the super fine sugar a spoonful at a time, very slowly, so it dissolves; undissolved sugar makes the meringue weep.

Scrape the bowl, add the vanilla, and beat on medium-high five to eight minutes to stiff, glossy peaks.

Trace an eight to nine inch circle on parchment and flip it so the graphite is underneath.

Sift in the cornstarch and fold it in gently with a spatula in a couple of batches.

Dot meringue under the parchment corners to hold it; spread the meringue into the circle with swoops up the sides and a nest in the center.

Put it in the 300 oven, immediately reduce to 250, and bake an hour to an hour and 15, until light cream colored, dry to the touch and hard outside.

Leave in the closed, turned-off oven three hours so it cools slowly (or after an hour prop the door open with a wooden spoon and cool another hour; or overnight).

Whip the cold heavy cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, low to high, to almost soft peaks, then finish by hand.

Transfer the cooled pavlova to a cake plate, top with a mountain of whipped cream, blueberries, blackberries and cut strawberries.