Place the egg whites and the sugar into a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water (= au bain-marie). Don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. Warm the egg white with the sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved and there are no sugar crystals left. 

Remove the bowl from the pan. With the electric mixer beat the egg white mixture until stiff peaks form.

Preheat the oven to 90ºC (194ºF). Draw a 20 cm ø circle and a smaller 10 cm ø circle on the parchment paper. Place the parchment paper upside down on the baking tray. Spoon the whipped egg whites in the circles or use a piping bag.

Bake the meringues in the preheated oven for 90 minutes until crisp on the outside and chewy or, if desired, completely dry on the inside. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. For completely crisp meringues bake 15 minutes longer. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues to cool in the oven. 

Beat the whipping cream with sugar to taste until stiff peaks form. Don't add too much sugar, the meringues are already sweet.

Just before assembling the pavlova, halve the avocados, remove the pits, peel off the skin. Slice the avocados. Heat the oil in two frying pans. Place the avocado slices in the hot oil.

Sprinkle the avocado with half the honey and fry for 1 minute. Turn the slices and drizzle with the remaining honey. Fry the avocado on both sides until the honey sticks to the avocado. Remove from the pan and leave to cool. 

Place the larger meringue on a serving platter. Spoon ¾ of the whipped cream on top. Top with ¾ of the avocado. Cover with the smaller meringue, the rest of the whipped cream and the last slices of avocado. Garnish with mint leaves and sprinkle with a little icing sugar.

Special Equipment

·       Electric mixer
·       Parchment paper
·       Baking tray
·       Optional: piping bag with a smooth serrated mouth of 12 mm ø