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Pavlova is one of my favourite things in the world. So when looking through Julie Goodwin's "The heart of the Home" to find a recipe for week 19 of my cook book challenge, it was difficult to go past this.

For the uninitiated, a pavlova is a meringue-based dessert. It was created by a New Zealand chef in honour of the ballerina Anna Pavlova and has since become a staple in Australian and New Zealand national cuisine.

A good pavlova meringue has a crispy exterior but is soft and marshmallowy on the inside. It is then typically topped with cream and fruit, but it is open to additions. Additions that usually involve some form of chocolate. I like adding broken up Flake or Peppermint Crisp to it, preferably by folding it through the cream. It's such a delicious, refreshing dessert and always the first thing I make a bee line for.

I've never attempted a roulade of any sort simply because I foresaw it cracking and collapsing all over the place. I don't know what possessed me to think it was a good idea to do it the first time with meringue, least of all a pavlova meringue which is notorious for cracking at the best of times. Perhaps it was my love of pav, or the fact the point of Cook Book Challenge is supposed to be to challenge myself. 

I did the daggiest kitchen dance of all time when this worked. I was so exited. Not only did this not collapse, the whole process was much easier than I expected.

Once my excitement died down, I then had to resist eating the whole thing before the guests arrived.

But I couldn't resist taking a single slice first. You guys love dissected shots, right? It's was for the good of the blog! Honest!

Julie's recipe call only for strawberries. I added peaches and kiwi fruit. as with a normal pavlova, let your tastebuds do the talking and alter the filling as you see fit. Here's her recipe: