Pre-heat oven to 140 C / 280 F (120 C fan forced).
Trace 12 6cm circles, about 2 cm apart, onto two sheets of baking paper. Place paper, trace-side down, onto baking trays.
Place the egg whites in a large bowl. Make sure the bowl is clean, and make sure there is no yolk in the egg whites, otherwise they won’t whip up.
Start beating the egg whites with an electric beater or in the bowl of a stand mixer until they are frothy. Gradually add the icing sugar / confectioner sugar, beating well after each addition, until sugar is dissolved. You can check if the sugar is dissolved by rubbing a bit of the meringue with your fingers. If you can feel a bit of graininess the sugar isn’t dissolved completely. Continue beating till a thick and glossy meringue is formed.
Sift the cornflour over the meringue and add vinegar and vanilla essence. Fold lightly with a rubber spatula.
Spoon the mixture on the baking trays to create mini pavlova shells. The traced circles will help you spoon the meringue mixture. Use a spoon, or an angled metal spatula to shape the mini pavlovas. They should have a little dent in the center – this will help spoon the cream, and toppings once they are baked.
Place the baking trays in the oven, and cook for about 1 hour, or until the pavlovas are dry and firm to the touch. If they aren’t, let them bake for another 5 – 15 minutes. Leave pavlovas to cool in the oven for 1 hour. Then remove. The pavlovas can be made ahead, and kept in an airtight container or even in the oven.