Mini Pavlova / Pavlova dessert
Crispy, moist meringue, refreshingly soft cream cheese whipped cream and fruity berries make these mini Pavlovas a special taste experience. They are an ideal summer dessert – light, airy and weightless like the dance of the Russian ballerina whose name they bear. Pavlova dessert is a hit on the dining table, both in terms of taste and appearance, and are so popular all over the world for a reason. You can make it yourself with this simple recipe.
Servings 8 pieces
Equipment
- piping bag with star nozzle
Ingredients
for the meringue
- 125 g egg whites (egg whites of approx. 4 eggs)
- 250 g sugar (twice as much as egg white)
- 13 g cornstarch (1/10 of the egg white)
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
for the cream
- 200 g cream cheese
- 200 g cream
- 40 g powdered sugar
- vanilla
for the filling and for decorating
- fresh strawberries (cut into pieces too big for the filling)
- fresh raspberries
- fresh sweet cherries (remove stones for the filling)
- fresh black currants
- peppermint leaves
Instructions
Preparation of the meringue baskets
- Put the egg whites and sugar together in a heatproof mixing bowl and heat them over a hot water bath, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved.
- Now whip the warm egg white and sugar mixture until creamy.
- Add lemon juice and beat the egg white-sugar mixture until stiff.
- Add cornstarch to the egg white mixture.
- Transfer the meringue mixture into a piping bag and form 8 equally sized baskets (morsels with a hollow) on a baking tray lined with baking paper. First pipe filled circles of about the same size out of the meringue mixture and then place a higher rim of meringue mixture around the edge of each circle. (Follow my tips and tricks for this here at the top of the post).
- Dry the meringue baskets in a preheated oven at 90 °C top and bottom heat for about 1.5 hours until they can be removed from the baking paper without leaving any residue. They must be dry on the outside and still soft on the inside. Then turn off the oven, open the oven door a little and let the baskets cool down for about 30 minutes. Then take them out of the oven and let them cool at room temperature.
Preparation of the cream
- Whip the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until fluffy.
- Add cream cheese and whip until firm and creamy.
Preparation of the pavlova dessert
- Pour the cream cheese whipped cream into a piping bag and pipe some of the cream on the bottom of each meringue basket (in the hollow of the bites). Spread raspberries, pitted sweet cherries, chopped strawberries and black currants on top of the cream and pipe the cream cheese whipped cream in the form of a morsel again, so that it completely covers the fruit filling.
- Decorate the top of the mini pavlova with fruit and mint leaves.
Notes
- Accurately weigh all ingredients for the meringue.
- Instead of lemon juice, you can use a pinch of citric acid or 1/2 tsp vinegar.
- The amount of powdered sugar for the cream can be adjusted to taste.
- Note the detailed tips and tricks for making mini Pavlovas at the top of the post.