Pavlova can be made in minutes when buying the meringues from a supermarket. But whipping them up from scratch is easy to do with Mary Berry’s recipe – and it uses just four ingredients.

The formula calls for six egg whites – easily saved when making hollandaise sauce for eggs benedict, or custard which relies on golden egg yolks for its thick texture.

Sharing her recipe on The Great British Bake Off, Mary described her pavlova as “a great dessert” that can be enjoyed any week of the year.

Mary served the meringue “topped with pretty berries” but most fruits work well, so you can eat with the seasons.

Right now, it’s a fruitful time for rhubarb, strawberries, cherries, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackcurrants.

Mary Berry’s pavlova recipe

Ingredients

Six large free-range egg whites

350g caster sugar

One teaspoon of white wine vinegar

One teaspoon of cornflour

For the filling

600ml double cream

One teaspoon of vanilla bean pasta

50g icing sugar, sifted

700g fresh berries (berries, raspberries, quartered strawberries)

50g pomegranate seeds

A few mint leaves to decorate

Method

First, preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan, then line a large baking tray with baking parchment and draw a 30cm circle in the centre. Draw a second, 15cm circle in the centre of the larger circle to make a ring.

Separate the egg whites from the yolk, transfer them into a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric whisk to form soft peaks. Add the sugar a little at a time, whisking on medium speed until glossy and soft.

Combine the vinegar and cornflour in a cup, whisking until smooth. Stir this into the egg whites before spooning the mixture onto the large ring drawn on the baking parchment.

Using a large spoon, make a shallow trench in the meringue for the cream and fruit to sit in. Transfer the finished pavlova to the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 140C/120C Fan.

Bake for one hour, until the meringue is hard on the outside but still white. Turn the oven off and leave the pavlova inside for an hour or overnight if possible to cool and dry – this will create a desirable crunch.

When cooled, assemble the pavlova with toppings. First, whip the cream, vanilla paste and icing sugar in a bowl until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed.

Spoon this into the trench made on the meringue before assembling the fruit on top of the pavlova. Dust with icing sugar and cut the pavlova into wedges to serve.