To make the Pavlova base, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.

In a large clean mixing bowl with whisk attachment, or using handheld electric mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy.

Stir in cream of tartar and salt and continue to beat on medium high speed. (Cream of tartar is optional here, it stabilizes the egg whites and helps to whip bigger and better.)

Add sugar/cornstarch mixture one tablespoon at a time, while mixer is running on medium high speed. Increase the speed to high and continue to beat the egg whites until hard peaks form. The mixture will look smooth and shiny.

Add vanilla extract and white distilled vinegar, and gently fold the mixture with a spatula.

Spoon the batter into 8 rounds on the prepared baking sheets. Make a shallow well in the center of each round. (TIP: Take a little bit of meringue batter and smear under 4 corners of the parchment paper, so it doesn’t move.) Alternatively, you can put the batter into a piping bag with  decorative tip (I used Wilton 1M tip.)  and pipe the nests instead.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 300°F (150°C).

Bake for 30 minutes. And then turn the oven off and let it cool for at least an hour with oven door ajar. Store cooled mini Pavlovas in air tight container at room temperature, or in the cooled oven until ready to assemble.

To make the strawberry whipped cream filling, run the freeze-dried strawberries in a small food processor until powder. Or you can place the fruits in between 2 parchment paper sheets, and roll with a rolling pin until fine powder. Reserve a tablespoon or so of strawberry powder for dusting.

Pour cold heavy whipping cream in a mixing bowl.

Beat the cream on low speed (speed 2 or 4 on stand mixer) until slightly thickens.

Add sugar and prepared strawberry powder. Continue to mix on medium speed (speed 4) for a minute or two. You can increase the speed to 6 on stand mixer until the mixture reaches hard peaks. Keep a close eye on it, you don’t want to over-beat it, or it’ll turn into sweet butter.

To assemble the treats, fill the Pavlovas with strawberry whipped cream filling and top with fresh strawberries. If desired, dust the assembled Pavlovas with reserved strawberry powder. Serve immediately, or within 2 hours.