"Every birthday I have my mother bake me a different cake. This year I chose Pavlova. I found out it was created in Australia and inspired by a ballerina. The problem is I cannot find the traditional recipe. I've searched all over. Can the goddess help?"

SCARLETT ELROD, Newnan

DEAR FOOD GODDESS: E-mail the Food Goddess Related: • More on food and drink • Restaurant reviews and search More Food Goddess columns Here are readers' favorite potato salad recipes  Chicken salad, fruit salad recipes from Rich's  Here's how to tell when blue-veined cheeses go bad  Everyone has opinion on potato salad  Pavlova a wonderful light dessert for warm weather  Here are readers' favorite potato salad recipes  Chicken salad, fruit salad recipes from Rich's  Here's how to tell when blue-veined cheeses go bad  Everyone has opinion on potato salad  Pavlova a wonderful light dessert for warm weather

The goddess loves the idea of a new birthday cake every year and applauds both the younger and elder Elrods for their tradition. Woe is this astral adviser, who, like so many others, got the same supermarket buttercream layer cake with pink flowers year after year.

As Ms. Elrod noted, Pavlova is named after a ballerina, the Russian Anna Pavlova, as an honor to her inspiring craft. While not a traditional cake, Pavlova is an airy, delicate and crisp meringue shell filled with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Just decadent enough without being too heavy or cloying, it is the perfect light dessert for this time of year.

Legend says the recipe was "created" by a chef in Perth, Australia, in 1935 (although many New Zealanders feel that country beat the Aussies to it). Political bickering aside, it has become both countries' national dessert. This explains why you will often see kiwi as a traditional topping.

Pavlova
8 servings

Hands on: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 1/2 hours

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups fresh fruit

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil and draw a 9-inch circle as a guide (trace around a cake pan).

With an electric mixer, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form. While beating, gradually add sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition until whites are stiff and glossy.

Spoon meringue inside the circle on the cookie sheet, shaping into a nest with the outside edge higher than the inside. Bake for about 1 hour, or until lightly golden and crisp. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes and then carefully loosen from parchment, peeling it away, and transfer to serving plate.

With an electric mixer, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Spoon into meringue shell and top with fresh fruit.

Per serving: 193 calories (percent of calories from fat, 51), 2 grams protein, 22 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 11 grams fat (7 grams saturated), 41 milligrams cholesterol, 99 milligrams sodium.