My Pavlova dessert recipe is an airy, cloud-like meringue that looks simply stunning on a plate and literally melts in your mouth. The texture is crisp on the outside and marshmallow-soft on the inside, and what’s more, the make-ahead recipe comes out perfectly, even for beginners!
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Helpful Reader Review
“I have made this recipe several times for my family. Never disappoints. SO good!! I use lemon curd, raspberries and Chantilly cream for mine. Unbelievably good!!” – Molly ★★★★★
Pavlova Video
I love the elegance of pavlova, and it doesn’t surprise me how often I see you all making this as a party dessert (I love seeing your posts on Instagram!). The single serve size keeps the Pavlova looking beautiful, unlike a large single Pavlova Cake, which always gets smooshed while slicing. It looks fancy, but I promise it’s simple to make when you follow my step-by-step instructions. Watch my video for all the tips!
Pavlova Recipe
What is Pavlova? There’s some debate about the origin of Pavlova, but the facts are – it’s a show-stopping meringue dessert, made by beating together egg whites and sugar. The addition of lemon juice and cornstarch helps form a smooth and crisp exterior, along with marshmallow-like soft centers. To serve, pavlovas are topped with lightly sweetened Whipped Cream and fresh berries.
Ingredients
Temperature and timing are important in this failproof pavlova recipe.
- Egg whites – room temperature – since the eggs separate from the yolk more easily when chilled, I prefer separating the egg whites into a bowl and then set it on top of a second bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. P.S. Save the yolks for my easy Hollandaise Sauce to top Eggs Benedict.
- Granulated Sugar – provides sweetness and structure so the dessert doesn’t collapse. I don’t recommend reducing the amount.
- Cornstarch – vital to form the crisp exterior and marshmallow-soft interior. You can substitute with potato starch.
- Lemon juice – adds a light, fresh flavor and prevents the sugar from forming crystals, creating a smooth meringue surface.
- Vanilla extract – adds perfect flavor. You can substitute with peppermint, almond, or lemon extract.
- Cream Topping – you’ll need granulated sugar and COLD Heavy whipping cream. You can even refrigerate your bowl before mixing.
Toppings for Pavlova
For this post, I used a mix of 4-5 cups of washed and dried berries and fresh mint leaves. The toppings for pavlova are endless:
- Berries – Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.
- Tropical fruits – kiwi, pineapple, or mango
- Stone fruit – peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines
- Garnish – fresh mint or basil
- Chocolate – a reader suggested painting the cup with Chocolate Ganache and adding chocolate shavings
- Saucy drizzle – Caramel Sauce, Strawberry Sauce, or Blueberry Sauce
- Jelly – Plum Jam or Peach Preserves
How to Make Pavlova
For pavlova meringue, I use my stand mixer. If using an electric hand mixer, you may need to add 2 minutes to the mixing time for stiff, smooth, and glossy peaks to form. Do not attempt to hand whisk – yikes!
- Beat – Preheat the oven to 225°F and line an XL baking sheet or 2 cookie sheets with parchment. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in the lemon juice, then vanilla, and finally cornstarch, until well blended.
- Pipe the meringue mixture into nests using a Wilton 1M Tip. Use the back of a spoon to indent the center. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and then turn off the oven and leave it in there another 30 minutes to dry.
- Cool – transfer with the parchment paper to wire racks.
- Make Whipped Cream: Beat the cold heavy whipping cream with the sugar until light, airy, and pipeable.
- Assemble Pavlovas: Pipe the sweetened cream onto the cooled pavlova just before serving and top with fresh fruit.
Tips for the Best Pavlova
This easy pavlova dessert recipe comes out perfectly sweet and beautiful every time with these easy tips:
- Fully preheat your oven and bake right away; otherwise, pavlova can start melting or forming a layer of brown sugar at the bottom.
- If using this large 3/4 baking sheet, you can fit them all on one sheet; otherwise, bake on 2 separate baking sheets in the top and bottom thirds of your oven. You’ll need enough space for air to circulate, but they don’t expand much.
- Make sure to use parchment paper for easy removal from the baking sheet (do not use wax paper – it sticks like crazy).
- Let pavlovas rest in the warm oven for 30 minutes before removing from the oven to ensure the exterior dries appropriately.
Make-Ahead and Storage
The individual parts can be can be made ahead, but once the pavlova is assembled, it’s best to enjoy within 4 hours since the cream will immediately start to soften the meringue.
- Make-Ahead: Make the meringue up to 3 days ahead and store loosely wrapped at room temperature (away from humidity). Store the whipped cream separately.
- Refrigerate Cream: Whipped cream refrigerates well in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Add cream to pavlovas just before serving.
- Freezing: Freezing pavlova can be tricky but you can store un-assembled meringue in the freezer, because it’s just dry enough to keep the meringue crispy. Store cooled meringue in the freezer in an airtight container. Thaw in the container for a few hours at room temperature before serving.
My fool-proof Mini Pavlova recipe makes show-stopper single-serve desserts and the mixer does most of the work for you. You’ll love how simply stunning these are when piled high with smooth whipped cream and tart berries. Try this recipe to impress your guests!
Pavlova Recipe
Ingredients
For Pavlova:
- 6 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1.5 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
For Cream:
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, (very cold)
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
For Topping/Decor:
- 4-5 cups fresh fruit, blueberries, kiwi, raspberries, sliced strawberries, etc
- 15 Mint leaves , for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Beat – Preheat the Oven to 225˚ F. Line a large 3/4 baking sheet* with parchment paper. Using your stand mixer, beat 6 egg whites on high speed 1 min until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, gradually add 1 1/2 cups sugar and beat 10 minutes on high speed, or until stiff peaks form. It will be smooth and glossy.
- Fold – Use a spatula to quickly fold in 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract, then fold in 2 tsp corn starch and mix until well blended.
- Pipe meringue into 3 to 3 1/2 inches wide nests onto the parchment paper using a Wilton 1M Tip. Indent the center with a spoon to allow room for cream. Bake at 225˚ for 1 hr and 15 minutes, then turn the oven off and without opening the door, let the meringue sit in the hot oven another 30 minutes. Outsides will be dry and crisp to the touch and very pale cream-colored, and insides will still be marshmallow soft.
- Cool – Transfer the pavlova with the parchment paper onto the counter or a cookie rack and allow it to cool to room temperature.
- Make the Frosting – in a large, cold mixing bowl, combine cold whipping cream with 2 Tbsp sugar and beat on high speed for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes or until whipped and spreadable.
- Assemble Pavlovas – Pipe frosting onto the pavlova and top with fresh fruit or your desired toppings.
Notes
- Fruit – berries, mango chunks, kiwi slices, diced peaches, etc.
- Syrups – Chocolate Ganache, Caramel Syrup, Blueberry Sauce, Strawberry Sauce
- Herbs – mint or basil sprigs
- Make Meringue in advance, storing it loosely wrapped on the counter up to 3 days ahead. Avoid humidity.
- Make whipped cream 2-3 days in advance, storing it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to assemble.
- Assembled pavlova should be eaten within 4 hours since the meringue will absorb moisture from the cream and soften.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Individual Desserts
I love making mini Pavlovas for parties because they’re easy to serve and impressive looking. Here are more single-serving, bite-sized desserts you’ll love:
- No-Bake Mini Cheesecakes
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Creme Brûlée
- Lemon Posset
- Mini Chocolate Cupcakes
- Eclairs Recipe
- Homemade Cream Puffs
- Panna Cotta
- Eton Mess
- Chocolate Souffle
Hi! What is the oven setting? Conventional or fan? Thank you!
Hi Carla, we use a standard conventional bake oven that does not use a fan.
What if my oven does not go that low? Lowest is 300 degrees F.
Hi Kelly! It’s important that pavlova is baked in a low-heat oven to make sure it dries out slowly.
Just made this for Christmas lunch and they turned out perfect! The flavour, taste, colour, everything was on point! Thanks Natasha, love your recipes
So glad to hear that, Vanessa! Thank you for sharing.
I made this recipe for my Cooking Club Christmas dinner. It was a big hit! I did think that the meringue was overly sweet–can it be made with less sugar and still turn out? Thank you for this recipe and video–very helpful!
Hi Dana! I’m so glad you loved this recipe. It may work with less but I haven’t tried cutting back since sugar is important for the meringue to form properly.
I have been making Pavlova for probably 40 years, my recipe came from a gentleman that I worked with (his wife was Australian). Everyone loves it.
is it the same as this one?
I want to try and make this for my brothers birthday soon
Could i use cream of tartar and not corn starch? Or is better corn starch…
Also is bte icying sugar or granulated sugar…
Hi! Do you know if I can reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe, and if so, how much I can reduce it by? Thank you!
Hi Emma, we believe we found the perfect balance for the outcome and taste with the sugar we used. One of my readers commented: “I use 1 1/4 cup of sugar instead of 1 1/2 cup.” I hope that information is helpful to you!
Hi There! Can these be frozen for future use? Also, if eggs whites only are used, where is the cholesterol coming from that is noted in the nutrition facts?
Hi Cynthia, these will not freeze well. We kept ours in an airtight container at room temperature. Putting it in the fridge or freezer will cause it to catch moisture and can make it sticky. The heavy whipping cream for the topping is a source of cholesterol. I hope this helps.
Should the oven be fully closed while meringue in oven or should it be left ajar? Than you
Hi Lila! See step 3. You’ll want to leave the door closed and not open it to let humidity in for best results.
Natasha – how many mini pavlovas does this recipe make? And if making one large one what would be likely size? Thank you
Yes, I have the number of servings listed in the recipe card, it roughly makes about 15 (depending on how you pipe them). Here is my recipe for the large pavlova HERE. It’s 10”.
Wow! These pavlovas amazing! I’m 12, and previously had never baked anything by myself before, but I tried this recipe anyway. It was delicious and looked great. Thanks, Natasha, for this easy and incredible recipe! (:
Great job! I’m glad it was a success, I hope you’ll enjoy all the recipes that you will try.
Easy to follow recipe, great result, white crispy shell with soft fluffy inside 🎂❤️
Thank you, Anne-maree!
Looks really good! I have been wanting to make this recipe for a long time! For the cornstarch part, is it required?
Hi Lida, I wouldn’t recommend skipping the cornstarch. The corn starch helps the meringue to stay soft in the center, to give the contrast of crisp crust and marshmallowy interior. I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha. Great recipe and a stunner for guests. I have made this several days before my event and froze the mini-pavs in an air-tight bag when they were completely cool. It works great. Just take them out of the freezer when you’re ready to fill, because they thaw quickly. Thanks much!!!
I’m pleasantly surprised that freezing and then thawing did not make them sticky or gummy. Interesing!
Hi! I’m going to try this recipe and I have a stand mixer but I would like to know which attachment to use – the regular triangular shaped one or the whisk? Thank you!
Hi MaryLou! We used a whisk for this recipe!
I should have just watched the video first! These were delicious, and the recipe and explanations were great. I just used a spoon to make the nests as I have no talent for piping, and they still looked great with the toppings. Thank you!
I’m so glad it all worked out!
Hi There! Can I used the cartons of egg whites available At the grocery store ? Can these be frozen for future use? Also, if eggs whites only are used, where is the cholesterol coming from that is noted in the nutrition facts?
Hi Cynthia, I don’t recommend carton egg whites, but they may work. Make sure that if you are using egg whites from a carton, they don’t have any additives. I have had readers report difficulty using carton whites.
Do you need to add lemon juice and if yes why? I currently don’t have any so would it still work?
Hi Dominique! The lemon juice helps stabilize the whipped meringue and creates those stiff peaks. You can replace it with cream of tartar or white vinegar. If you make this without either of these stabilizers, it will still work out but may not be flatter.
Can you substitute cornstarch for potato starch for this recipe?
I haven’t tested substituting, but one of our readers reported great results using potato starch.
Just made it – so good.
I did half of the measurements and got 12 cakes (if I spread it little better, probably it would take 10-11).
A bit simplification I made:
Added sugar immediately, as from my perspective, if you beat eggs 10 min it doesn’t really matter;
Did a little bit higher temperature, as I have no idea which exactly temperature was, but I think 150-160C, and only 45 minutes. I left them to dry in the oven, like in the recipe, but probably wouldn’t to that next time, as it dried completely.
I didn’t do a “bed” as if you just make second layer as a wide ring, there is enough space for the filling.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Anna!
OMG! I made these last night for the first time and they turned out perfect. Even my picky husband LOVED it. These are going to be my go to for family get togethers from now on!
So glad to hear that Sharon. Thank you for the wonderful review.
They disappeared too quick, I had to make another batch this morning LOL
That’s when you know they’re good!
What a wonderful recipe. It was my fisrt time making pavlova and it turned out super. Thank you very much for the recipe.
For filling I made cream cheese mouse and on top fresh strawberrys with strawberry vanilla bourbon syrup. Super fresh!!
Greetings from Greece!!!
Wow, that sounds, delicious Maria! Thank you for sharing with us.