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 Natasha,
Could I used cool whip on top instead of whipped cream?
Thanks!
Hi Bridgette, I have not tested that with cool whip but it may work. I worry the cool whip may melt onto and make the meringue sticky. If you experiment I would love to know how you like this recipe.
Hi im Rabia. I’m a great fan of yours and love ur recepies and videos. Tried making pavlovas today. They shaped up well and looked beautiful while in the oven
I was meticulous about the correct measurement, oven speed/temperature and baking time. Made sure I followed all the instructions completely.
My pavlovas once out of oven flattened, very sticky to touch and were ivory coloured. Pls guide what could hv gone wrong
Thanks
Hi Rabia, it could be due to under baking or possibly being in a high humidity area. These are best when made and kept in a dry place at room temperature. If they are sticky, you should continue baking. Also be sure you are baking on the regular bake setting (not convection). One of our readers wrote “the reason they come out sticky is because you change the temperature realy fast like from hot oven to room temp. So what i do is bake them 1 hour and 15 min and then turn off the oven and let them sit there for 30 min like you say in your recipe and then just crack open the oven a little and let them sit there until the oven cools off completely or even longer sometimes 2 hours. ” Hope this helps.
It would have been extremely helpful and quite frankly crucial information to include a C or F after the baking temeprature. Because 225° is a common baking temp in C and I have never made meringues before I didn’t think and put them in at 225°C which translates to 437°F. Needless to say they started smelling burnt in about 5min. I don’t know if they will turn out but I’m pissed at such an important piece of information being missing from the recipe and pissed at myself for not realizing they’d obviously not be baking this long at that temp. Oh well.
Hi Gudrun, that is such a bummer. Yes, that would be much too hot for pavlovas. I checked the recipe and we did state 225˚F to specify that it should be in Farenheight.
Hello from Mexico! I’ve also become a victim of the °F oversight. Since it doesn’t seem likely that Americans will be adopting the metric system any time soon, I’d recommend stating the equivalent temperature in Celsius in parentheses. That would be a great help for the rest of the world.
Hi Gustavo, thank you so much for that suggestion! We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes but it is taking some time as we have to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient!
It was my first time making these cookies for my wife for valentine’s day and they turned out great. I didn’t have any lemon juice so ì substituted it for lemonade. I also put red sprinkles on top before I put them in the oven. I filled the cookies on top with lemon curd and fresh blueberries and strawberries. These turned out great.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Hi Natasha, I love your recipes and the way you present them. Have tried a few and they were a hit. I so want to make these mini pavlovas but the issue is I dont have an oven. I bake cakes in big pan on stove and they come out fine. Can you please give me a rough idea that (A.) do I have to bake them at low gas (as compared to the cakes) (B.) Can I check them in between as I won’t be able to see throught the steel cover of the pan. Please pls guide, thanks
Hi Rabya, pavlovas are very picky treats. I have not tested that on a stop top to advise. They do require a very low heat for a long period of time. If you end up testing that I would love to know how you like this recipe.
Thank you for a quick response. Really appreciate and would definitely let you know how they came out. Fingers crossed
Hi Natasha. I tried this recipe yesterday on the stove top n it came out perfect. My family loved it n it was gone in minutes. It’s just that mine came out ivory which still is a pretty colour Thx a lot for the great work you do
Hi Natasha. I tried this recipe yesterday on the stove top n it came out perfect. My family loved it n it was gone in minutes. It’s just that mine wasn’t white as yours, rather it came out ivory which still is a pretty colour any tips on how to achieve whiteness. Thx a lot for the great work you do
Hi Rabya, The lower the heat the better! If they are yellow/ beige, that means they baked too quickly or at too high of heat. I hope that helps
Great thanks. Would try baking them at a lower temperature next time 🙂
I made mini pavlovas yesterday from a different recipe and much prefer yours. Mine are not white like yours, more of a beige color. Any idea why and what I can do differently? Thank you so much for this great recipe.
Hi Lisa, it could be that your oven is running hotter (also make sure not to use a convection oven setting, but a conventional bake mode). Also, make sure to use granulated sugar and not a beige-colored substitution (such as the organic sugars).
Would it work to bake 2 batches at one time, as in 2 pans inside? Means one pan would have to wait 10 mins while other one is mixing before placing both into the oven.
One batch is not enough for family of 6.
Hi Olga, That may work! You may need to keep the second one in there a little longer. Be sure to be gentle and be quick with opening and closing the oven door. The pavlova is very sensitive.
Dear Natashaskitchen
I was very excited making this pav looked awesome making it my problem is the oven temp you said 225 well I put my pavs in the oven and not long started smelling burning from the oven they browned up so quickly so I turned the oven down but I’m afraid that my pavs burnt why when the recipe stayed to have oven on 225 please explain thank you
Hi Doris, I have not had that experience. Is your oven calibrated to make sure it is a true 225? Are you using convection or conventional oven?
Everyone at my house really loved it! It was a huge hit!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Toni!
These really do melt in your mouth! Love the berries on top!
The perfect treat! Thank you for that great review, Natalie!
I especially love making this for my gluten free friends and family members!
Yes! We love to make this cake. It always feels extra special! Especially for our gluten-free freinds
Im certainly going to give these a go with the addition of a few drops of vanilla essence in the cream, as we do in NZ
That sounds wonderful. Please let me know how it goes and also where you purchase your vanilla essence. Thank you!
I made this for Christmas dinner. My thought was that after eating a big (heavy) supper, something light for dessert would be best and that it was!!! It went really well and I make it a lot at the moment. Thanks Mary
That’s so great, Mary! Thank you for that amazing review! I’m so glad you enjoyed that.
I never have reviewed on a recipe before. But I felt compelled to do so.
I had made pavlova years ago which was a total fail. But was determined to try again.
I used your recipe and they were perfect. I distributed them amongst my family as a trial run and they were so happy.
Thank you
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you all enjoyed this recipe!
Just made these,I followed the recipe that used 4 eggs, they are just Perfect ! I am delighted.i am going to use them as part of a pavlova grazing platter for Christmas Day, with a selection of sauces and fruits.
That sounds lovely, Katine! Thank you for that amazing feedback!
Loved it! Just made the recipe tonight for my first dinner party as an “adult”. Very fresh and fun. Also worked well as a gluten free dessert to fit someone’s needs. Actually made 6 of them in a larger form and the recipe worked just wonderfully still.
I’m so glad to hear it, Jessica! Thank you for that great review!
I just wanted to thank you so very much for your superb recipes, site, and the work you put in to this. I am a 76 yr. old widower who loves to cook. Every single recipe I’ve used from your web site has turned out excellent. Again, thank you very much. Best wishes always to you and yours. Kind regards, Kenton Elliott
I’m so happy to hear you are enjoying my blog and recipes. Thank you for sharing that with me!
Have done these so many times and everyone loves them!!! Question… how far in advance can I make a cream? I don’t want to mix anything on Sunday but have everything already prepared so I can just assemble at my moms house
Hi Olha, I like to make whipped cream fresh, but you can beat the cream a day ahead, cover and refrigerate. If it softens (sometimes whipped cream will soften in the fridge), you can use a whisk to whip it back up to the right consistency.
To make stabilized homemade whipped cream, you will want to use an additional ingredient to help it last longer in the refrigerator. I like to use cream of tartar if I know that I will be making mine well in advance of serving. While it is best served immediately, by adding a little cream of tartar to your heavy whipping cream, it will generally last much longer in the refrigerator.
For each cup of heavy whipping cream, add 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar along with the confectioner’s sugar when whipping. Just an observation that might be useful. Thank you so much, Natasha, for a great site.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m certain that will come in handy.
Hello. Can you use organic sugar with this recipe? It’s not exactly white?
Hi Olga, it will work is it has a similar consistency to white sugar. Keep in mind it will affect the color of the meringue too.
I Bake at 225˚ for 1 hour and 15 minutes just like you said but It was completely burned
Oh wow! Burned definitely means your oven is way too hot. They should be white when they are baked. Definitely turn down the heat of your oven. Are you certain you set your oven to Farenheight and NOT CELCIUS? Also, are you using a convection oven? This recipe is intend for regular conventional oven settings. I’ve tried using organic cane sugar that was more coarse than regular white granulated sugar and it did not work well for me – the meringue was cream colored and not smooth when it came out of the oven. If using cane sugar, make sure to process it in a food processor to reach the consistency of granulated sugar, but if the color of the sugar is darker, the meringue color will be off. I hope that helps you when making meringue in the future!
Hi Natasha, I want to know if I can use 100% pasteurized liquid egg whites for this recipe because I want to make use of them as I have lots. Just wondering how much liquid egg whites in millilters I need for the recipe? Please let me know. I also made your mini cheesecake and blueberry cheesecakes and they were a huge hit! I made them for my kids and boss only want me to bake them desserts since then and they said the cheesecakes were the best! Thanks to you Natasha.
Hi Danna, I’m so glad you enjoyed the cheesecake recipes! One large egg white is 30ml so 6 would be 180ml. I haven’ tried pasteurized egg whites for this so I can’t say for sure. Some people have reported having trouble with pasteurized but I can’t say for certain if it was due to the pasteurized eggs or other factors.
Hello Natasha,
I was wondering what type of toppings you could use if fresh fruit were not available. I would like to make these for my holiday dessert trays and using berries in december will kill my budget. thanks for your help.
You can also try frozen fruit such as raspberries or strawberries mixed with some sugar. Or make a chunky puree from frozen fruit and sugar and use that as a topping over the cream.
i have made a Jello lemon pudding and pie filling. once it has set, you can then whip it into the whipped cream. you could then use a couple of blueberries – frozen are cheap. – i love the lemon. or you could try any pie filling, chocolate, banana cream etc.
Canned passionfruit is amazing.
Or
A cherry syrup with chunks of cherries in it goes well.
Or…
Raspberry puree made from frozen raspberries.
Chocolate shavings.
Do you have peppermint crisp?? We have them is Australia and those crumbled on top is sooo good!!
Some people put slices of banana but not really done in Aus as we usually do Pavs at Christmas with our berries & mango etc.
I want to print out a circle template to try and get the pavlovas as uniform as possible. Could you please tell me what the diameter of the base should be? I can’t find that detail anywhere. Thanks!
Hi Lourdes we used a plate to trace it or a large bowl to get it the size we wanted. There isn’t a set diameter
I understand but when you say the recipe makes 15…what size would they be. 3”, 8”? Just looking for a rough number. thanks!
The pavlovas are about 3 to 3 1/2 inches wide and you should get a total of 14 to 15 pavlovas with this recipe. It’s easier to gauge the size/shape if you watch the video. I hope that helps!
Perfect! Thanks!!
I made them for my family and they came out lovely! Everyone enjoyed. One thing though- I made the pavlovas at about the same size as yours, but the number of pavlovas I ended up with was closer to 30, even though I follower the recipe to a T. I ended up having to double the whipped cream for the recipe. They were still amazing, the only trouble being that my family really loaded up on sugar tonight
Hi Lisa, It could be that I piped them taller or wider? I’m not sure why else that would be unless they were piped a different size. I’m so glad you enjoyed the pavlova recipe!
I tried making these today and they were baking perfectly in the beginning but towards the end they got a bit of a beige color and the texture wasn’t that smooth as it is in the picture
Hi Katie, it could be that your oven is running hotter (also make sure not to use a convection oven setting, but a conventional bake mode). Also, make sure to use granulated sugar and not a beige-colored substitution (such as the organic sugars).
Hi Natasha. Love your mini pavlova video. I’m thinking to make them a lot smaller than yours to feed everyone at my daughter’s birthday. How many pavs do you get out of the 6 egg whites. If I make them smaller I should probably be able to get double the amount. Can I make these ahead of time and if I serve them up an hour before everyone comes would that be okay? They won’t got soggy with the cream will they? Thanks for your reply
Hi Vanessa, if you follow our mini Pavlova recipe here we have the serving size towards the bottom of the post. You can make the shell ahead of time but I recommend topping it with the cream shortly before serving them.