Swiss Meringue Pavlova

SWISS MERINGUE PAVLOVA

1. Preheat the oven to 335°f (conventional, not fan bake). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper & trace a 9” circle on it using a cake pan or dinner plate. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, & vanilla bean paste, whisk well. Set the bowl over a small pan of simmering water to make a double boiler - make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
3. Whisking almost constantly, heat the egg & sugar mixture until the sugar has dissolved and it reads 170°f on an instant thermometer. Now transfer the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (be careful grabbing it as it will be hot).
4. Whip the mix on high speed for ~4 minutes, until stiff peaks have formed that are just starting to clump inside the whisk. This may take a little longer depending on your mixer.
5. Now turn the mixer to low, add in the lemon juice + corn starch, (if using vanilla extract, add that now too) & whip on high speed for a minute to ensure that all is well combined.

(Note: The original post states that the recipe instructions are continued in another caption.)