Preheat your oven to 150 C, and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Break the chocolate, if you're using it, into individual squares.

Place the egg whites and the pinch of salt in a clean, non-plastic bowl. I like to quickly wipe out the inside of the bowl with a vinegar-dampened paper towel or half a cut lemon first just to really remove any traces of pavlova-crushing fat. Whisk the egg whites for around five minutes, or until you can lift the whisk up out of the bowl and a peak of foamy egg white remains below it. If it's still kind of liquid and flat, then keep whisking. Once you have achieved that soft-peak stage, continue to whisk as you add the sugar a teaspoon at a time. The mixture will grow thicker and thicker. You can add the sugar in larger amounts as you go along. Continue whisking energetically until the mixture is very stiff and shiny.

Dollop a tablespoonful of the egg white mixture onto the baking tray. Carefully place a piece of chocolate or a half-teaspoon of jam in the centre, on top. Then, spoon a smaller dollop of egg white mixture over the top to seal in the filling completely. Continue, till you have eight fat mini-pavlovas.

Bake for 30 minutes – although check after 25 – to see how brown they are on top. Turn off the oven and leave them undisturbed for 10 minutes, before removing the tray. These are just as enthralling with the centres warmly gushing into your mouth as you bite into them, as they are cold later on.