Beautiful Berry Pavlova
A meringue wreath filled with yogurt whipped cream and topped with your favorite red berries, mint leaves and edible orange petals makes a beautiful, light, and festive dessert for your sweet Valentines💕
Equipment
- 1 standing mixer or handheld beater
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 pastry bag fit with a large piping tube or large open star tip and matching coupler.
Ingredients
Meringue Shells
- 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1 cup extrafine granulated sugar you can make yours extrafine by putting it in the food processor for a minute or so
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Yogurt Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp. powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Fresh Fruit
- 4 cups assorted red fruits of your choice, sliced or whole depending upon the fruit berries, cherries, strawberries, kiwi, bananas
Instructions
Meringue
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw an 8-10 inch circle on the parchment paper. This will be the guide for your meringue wreath. Flip the paper over so the pencil side is down. You will still be able to see the guide on the other side.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer, along with the cream of tartar. Beat until frothy and foamy. Slowly add sugar, and continue to beat on high until you have very stiff, shiny peaks. You should be able to hold a spoon of the egg whites upside down and they will stay for a minute or so. Beat in vanilla.
- Using a large spoon or a pastry bag fit with a large open star or plain tube tip, pipe the meringue around the circle by making large swirls or flowers with the bag or mounds if using a spoon, making the wreath about 3 inches wide. Fill in any gaps with extra meringue. The edges should be higher with little dips along the center of the wreath to hold cream and fruit.
- Reduce the oven temp to 200°F. Place the meringue into the oven and bake for 90 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking. After 90 minutes, the meringue should be crunchy on the outside, but remain soft on the inside. Remove from oven and allow it to cool to room temperature. Serve right away or store in an airtight container in a cool spot for a day or two, before serving.
- Once cooled, fill the dips in the center of the wreath with yogurt-whipped cream, and arrange fruit on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve, but serve it soon, once the fruit is on top of the meringue it can get soggy.
Yogurt-Whipped Cream
- Beat the heavy whipping cream to stiff peaks in a large bowl or in your standing mixer. Fold in yogurt and vanilla. Store in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the pavlova.
Notes
- This recipe will also make 8 individual mini pavlovas
- We love the tartness of the yogurt blended with whipped cream, but if you prefer straight whipped cream, it will be perfectly delicious too.
- You can also flavor the whipped cream with lime or lemon juice, instant coffee or cocoa powder if you like to add a touch of something different to your pavlova cream. We love using lemon curd as the topper too.
- Meringue is best eaten right away, once cooled. However, you can store the baked meringue in an airtight container for up to a day or two.
- Don’t add fruit or cream to the meringue until evening you are ready to serve the dessert.