What is a Pavlova?? you haven't lived, my friend!! It's an aussie dessert named after the Russian Ballerina Anna Pavlova to commemorate her visit here in the 1920s. The base is a large meringue - crunchy on the outside and marshmallow on the inside, and it's topped with cream and seasonal fruit. It is the best dessert in the world - I chose lemon meringue on this list because 'pav' (as we aussies call it) wasn't available.