I made Pavlova for the very first time yesterday for New Year's, followed the recipe exactly and when I put it in the oven it looked fantastic. Except what happened once it started cooking was it spread out and went flat as an egg white omlette .

Does anyone have any idea why this may have happened? I used 4 egg whites, 1 cup superfine/caster sugar, 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon corn starch / flour. I mixed the egg whites until soft peaks and mixed the sugar until it was absolutely smooth and no grains. I folded the vinegar and corn starch in. Oven temp was 270 degrees F / 130 degrees C.

Hope someone can tell me where I went wrong.
Thank you
Mary

oooohhh...how disappointing..it is so delish too..
I just read that this can happen...got it from allrecipes.com

To keep your meringue from being flat and grainy, try beating egg whites until stiff but not dry. Overbeaten egg whites lose volume and deflate when folded into other ingredients. Also, when beating in sugar, beat in about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well between each addition. Then beat until meringue is thick, white and glossy. Be absolutely sure not a particle of grease or egg yolk gets into the whites."

Happy New Year!!!!!
Jane

Thanks JaneK. That's what I did though, I added the sugar a tablespoon at a time and felt the finished meringue between my fingers to make sure there was no grainy texture and it was absolutely smooth. Also, it was thick, white and glossy, that's why I was so surprised that it flattened out. Could it be that the oven temp wasn't high enough?

More likely that the oven temp wasn't low enough. The sugar may have melted too fast and made it flat. Meringues can be cooked at extremely low temperatures indeed and must be kept away from any humdity - were you cooking anything else in the oven at the same time that might have produced steam?

I think maybe you havent added enough sugar, my reciepe has 2oz of caster sugar per egg white

Whisk egg whites and 1oz sugar per egg white until you have peaks then add in other 1oz sugar per egg white and cornflour/starch, whisk until little or no grain remains. I dont use vinegar in my reciepe as I completely cover my pavalova with cream thus it does matter if the pavalova has an off white colour.
This is a 100% working reciepe and method I have never had a failure

The pavalova should crack slightly when cooling but not shrink

Pavs are a kiwi tradition and something I make a lot. The egg whites need to be at least a few days old, and at room temperature. They need to be beated until very stiff, I don't think you can overbeat them (and yes not a drop of grease, make sure the bowl is glass or metal so it can be scrupulously cleaned first, a kenwood mixer is what I use) Pile it fairly high as it is normal for it to collapse a bit. Don't open the oven door while baking, even just to 'check' it. And if all else fails, a couple of inches of whipped cream and fruit piled on top and everyone will think it was supposed to look like that. And it will still taste fabulous! Enjoy!