MLB Holiday Recipes: Josh Spence's Mum's Layered Cherry Pavlova

Entertaining for the holidays? MLB.com is collecting holiday recipes from players and managers. They are sharing their traditional favorites with you, so feel free to share them with others.

Josh Spence: Mum's Layered Cherry Pavlova

When I head to Australia for the holidays I always look forward to Mum's pavlova. It's one of the first things I eat when I get back home!

Serves 8. Preparation: 30 minutes. Cooking: 1 hour plus cooling.

Ingredients

Oil spray

5 egg whites

1 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

20 oz cream, whipped

16 oz cherries, half quantity quarters and pitted

Icing sugar, to dust

Cherry sauce

1/2  cup caster sugar

3 1/2 oz cherries, halved and pitted

1. Preheat oven to 265 degrees Fahrenheit or 230 fan. Using a pencil, draw a seven-inch circle on three pieces of baking paper. Spray three oven trays lightly with oil and place the paper on them, pencil side down. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually, beating well after each addition, until thick and glossy. Beat in vanilla.

2. Spread the meringue onto the trays within the pencil lines. Bake for one hour, swapping the trays from top to bottom shelf halfway through. Turn off the oven, prop the door slightly ajar and leave to cool completely.

3. Meanwhile, to make the cherry sauce, combine the sugar with a half-cup of water in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat without boiling until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cherries and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook for about seven minutes or until the liquid has become syrupy. Strain into a jug and cool completely (reserve the cooked cherries for another use).

4. To serve, place one disc of meringue onto a serving plate. Spread with one third of the cream, and top with half the quartered cherries. Top with another disc of meringue, half the remaining cream and all the remaining quartered cherries. Place the final meringue on top, and spread with the remaining cream. Pile the whole cherries on top, drizzle with cherry sauce, and dust with icing sugar.