Pavlova with Fresh Whipped Cream. Light, airy pavlova filled with fresh whipped cream and berries. Drizzled with chocolate ganache. An elegant, beautiful, delicious dessert!
Meringue
A few summers ago I had my first experience making meringue when I was make a version of what is now my Almond Berry Meringue Cake. I thought it was amazing, and it quickly became a dessert staple at my house. So, recently when I saw a lot of pavlova pictures popping up on Pinterest and Instagram, I wanted to give it a go.
I gave it my first try on New Year’s Eve, and was sold. It was easy to make, delicious, light, and beautiful. I served it to a group of friends at a New Year’s celebration, and it was a huge hit.
Pavlova with Fresh Whipped Cream
My dear friend Erin is always complimentary of my desserts. She gets really excited about them. So, it makes me want to make her desserts all the time. She enjoyed my New Year’s pavlova, and her birthday was this past week, so I wanted to make her a pavlova. I have been sick for the past couple of weeks, with minimal energy, so this pavlova was perfect. It takes minimal effort or time for such a fantastic result.
This pavlova with fresh whipped cream is not difficult, but here are a few notes worth mentioning:
- Eggs are easier to separate when they’re cold, but they NEED to be room temperature for this recipe. So, I recommend that you separate them when they’re straight out of the fridge, and then let the whites sit in a bowl at room temperature for an hour or so.
- Before whipping the egg whites, make sure that your bowl and whisk are completely clean and dry.
- When making the whipped cream filling, the bowl and the whisk need to be cold. The colder, then better. I typically leave my mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before using to make whipped cream.
Pavlolva with Fresh Whipped Cream
Ingredients
Pavlova
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 tbsp corn starch
Filling
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ganache
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Decor
- ~1.5 cups fresh mixed berries strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
- ~ 2 tbsp powdered sugar if desired
Instructions
Pavlova
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and draw a 9″ round circle on the paper (I trace a 9″ round cake pan).
- Place egg whites and salt in a large bowl or base of stand mixer (see notes above about temp and separating of eggs).
- Use whisk attachment to beat on high speed until medium-stiff peaks form (stiff enough that it forms peaks, but peaks that don’t stand easily on their own). This will take about 3.5 minutes.
- Add water, vanilla, and sugar. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form (peaks that easily stand and hold their shape). This will take about 2 minutes.
- Use spatula to fold in cream of tartar and corn starch.
- Dump mixture into center of circle on parchment paper. Use spatula to spread out mixture to edges of circle. Then, use spatula to move mixture from center of mixture to the outside, leaving about a 5″ round circle (make sure to leave about 1/2″ thickness of mixture on the bottom).
- Next, starting at outside of circle, move spatula from bottom to top in a vertical direction, to form peaks. Once done you should have peaks of the mixture around a 5″ round central indentation.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Then, without opening oven, reduce heat to 250 degrees and bake for another 70 minutes, or until golden in color (Note: Do not open oven at all during this time).
- Once time is done, turn oven off. Again, do NOT open oven. Let cool completely in oven for about 4 hours, or overnight.
- Remove from oven and then remove from parchment paper. Transfer to serving plate or cardboard round.
Filling
- Place bowl and whisk of mixer in freezer for at least 15 minutes. Once ready to use, add whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract to bowl. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks begin to form and mixture is the the consistency of Cool Whip. Do not over beat.
Assembly
- Wait to assemble until just before serving. Fill center of meringue with whipped cream.
- Place berries on top of whipped creamed as desired.
- Make chocolate ganache: Place chocolate chips in a heat safe bowl. Place whipping cream in microwave safe bowl and heat until boiling, about 60 seconds. Pour cream over chocolate chips and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit for 5 minutes. Then, remove plastic and whisk until smooth. You can transfer mixture to a squeeze bottle to spread over pavlova, or you may use a spoon to drip the chocolate as desired.
- If desired, sift powdered sugar over top of pavlova.
Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
If you enjoyed this Pavlova with Fresh Whipped Cream, you might enjoy these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Almond Berry Meringue Cake
Healthier Apple Crisp
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake
Churro Cake
Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Nutella Cookies
Links to items used to make this recipe:
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