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My husband and I have been married 11 years this month. Time, slow down! This is a very special anniversary for us. Our first child is 5 and will be starting school this year. We didn’t go out of town to celebrate but we did go out to our favorite fancy restaurant and then shared dessert at home.
If you want to surprise your spouse and make dessert extra special, you should try this loaded berry pavlova. It’s light, airy and filled with all the best summer berries. It is crisp on the outside and marshmallowy soft inside. A sweet end to a sweet day!
Let me start out by saying the pavlova is EASY. Meringue is neither complicated or time consuming. It takes some time to bake/dry out in the oven, but your oven does all of the work.
Ingredients for Pavlova Cake:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
Ingredients for Frosting:
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
Ingredients for Topping:
1-2 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
How to Make a Berry Pavlova Cake:
Preheat the Oven to 250˚F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
1. Using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer, beat 6 egg whites and 1 1/2 cups sugar for 6 to 7 minutes on high speed, or until stiff peaks form. The mixture will be smooth and glossy.
2. Add 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract and 2 tsp corn starch and continue mixing another 15 seconds or until well blended. Transfer immediately to a large sheet of parchment paper and use spatula to form a 10″ round ring, making a deep indent in the center to accommodate the cream and berries later. The center will rise so make a substantial well in the center.
3. Bake at 250˚F for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven and with door closed, let it sit inside the oven another 1 hour until cooled. You can keep it in the oven longer to cool since the oven will be off and you might have dinner plans ;). Remove pavlova from oven and let cool completely to room temp then cover and let stand in a dry, room temp room up to 2 days or assemble and serve right away.
How to Make the Topping:
1. Beat 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream with 2 Tbsp sugar on high speed 2-3 minutes or until frosting is stiff and spreadable but don’t over beat or it will become buttery. (note: you can make cream ahead of time, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use).
2. Just before serving, spread whipped cream over the pavlova and top with plenty of your favorite berries. Refrigerate leftovers. It’s best served right away.
Berry Pavlova Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites, room temperature (*see tip 1)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 4-5 cups fresh berries, blueberries, raspberries, small strawberries, blackberries..** see tip 2
- 1-2 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
Instructions
How to Make a Berry Pavlova:
- Preheat the Oven to 250˚F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer, beat 6 egg whites and 1 1/2 cups sugar for 6 to 7 minutes on high speed, or until stiff peaks form. The mixture will be smooth and glossy.
- Add 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract and 2 tsp corn starch and continue mixing another 15 seconds or until well blended.
- Transfer immediately to a large sheet of parchment paper and use spatula to form a 10" round ring, making a deep indent in the center to accommodate the cream and berries later. The center will rise so make a substantial well in the center.
- Bake at 250˚F for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven and with door closed, let it sit inside the oven another 1 hour until cooled. You can keep it in the oven longer to cool since the oven will be off and you might have dinner plans ;). Remove pavlova from oven and let cool completely to room temp then cover and and let stand in a dry, room temp room up to 2 days or assemble and serve right away.
How to Make the Topping:
- Beat 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream with 2 Tbsp sugar on high speed 2-3 minutes or until frosting is stiff and spreadable but don't over beat or it will become buttery. (note: you can make cream ahead of time, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use).
- Just before serving, spread whipped cream over the pavlova and top with plenty of your favorite berries. Refrigerate leftovers. It's best served right away.
Notes
**Tip 2: Keep berries dry and chilled prior to use.
I hope you love this easy and wonderful Berry Pavlova Recipe!! 🙂
Incredible recipe!!! Turned out with a perfectly crisp crust and marshmallow center. It’s definitely on the sweeter side so next time I’d probably adjust sugar based on egg white weight (1:1.6-1.8g ratio) and make the whipped cream less sweet. Also very helpful to blitz the granulated sugar into a finer powder (caster sugar outside the US) and add tablespoon at a time so that it dissolves easier. 10/10. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you for the wonderful feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I like to serve mine with lemon curd. I usually make the individual ones, but if I make one large one, should I just serve the curd on the side? I usually put the curd in the individual ones and top with the berries and have the whipped cream on the side. Just trying to simplify and still have a great dessert
Hi Janice! You could top it with lemon curd here too if you prefer.
I made this Pavlova for my Christmas dinner dessert and it was fabulous! One of my family members can’t eat berries, so I made Natasha’s Easy Cherry Sauce to put on top of the whip cream! Oh my goodness! It was so delicious! I’ll be making this again for sure! Thanks, Natasha!
I love this Pavlova recipe! I have gone back to it several times throughout the years and it always turns out amazing! *I added vanilla bean paste instead of extract and it still turned out amazing and didn’t affect the pavlova rising
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Sasha! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Can I double the recipe and bake 2 cakes? I’m wondering if it needs to be baked right after you get it on the pan or if I can wait until the first one is complete before baking the second?
Hi Natalia! Meringue should be worked with quickly or it can deflate. I don’t recommend waiting to bake it.
My first time making a Pavlova and I’m impressed! Pretty easy if you follow directions and very delicious! Thanks for another great recipe! Pinned!
I am making this for my daughter’s birthday, per her request, but I don’t have a stand mixer. Can this be done with a hand mixer?
Hi Celia, Generally, the hand held ones take longer to whip and the stand mixer with whisk attachment is more effective in incorporating air into the egg whites. It will take significantly longer if using a hand mixer.
This is one of the best desserts there are plus it is so simple! ❤️ Thanks so much for the recipe!!☺️
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Hala! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Can I divide this into two smaller cakes? If so, what adjustment do I make to the baking time?
Hi Toni! I’m sure you could, but you’ll have to experiment with the baking time.
I made this a number of times and it flew every time with flying colors….. thou it is a traditional Australian and New Zealand desert whom are still trying to work out who takes out the honors. #1 recipe
Hello Anthony, thank you for your great comments and feedback. I’m happy to know that hyou love our Berry Pavlova Cake Recipe!
So I made this for when I had friends over a week ago. I’ve made the mini pavlova using your recipe multiple times but wanted to try this in cake form and it was disappointing. It cracked and the middle collapsed while baking. It was super dry too. I think the baking time is too long as with the minis I have always reduced baking time to no more than an hour but figured that since this is much bigger I should try the full 1.5hrs. Will try again but will reduce baking time to no more than 1.25hrs. And definitely need to use A LOT of berries and kiwi to balance out the sweetness.
Hi Nat, if you typically are needing to reduce the heat for a pavlova, I suspect maybe your oven runs hot or maybe you are using a convection oven which does need adjustments in either temperature or timing. I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer which can tell you if your oven is off.
Hello Natasha,
can granulated raw sugar be used?
Also, is it possible to avoid using sugar in the whipped cream to make the cake less sweat?
Hi Sam! You can experiment with other sugar. Just be sure to use a “fine” sugar that dissolves well (not coarse) it’s important to guarantee success in making the meringue. You can choose to use less sugar in your whipped cream if you prefer less sweet.
Hi Natasha, you are wonderful!! and I love all your recipes. The Pavlova was perfect following all your tips. My question is can I use the liquid egg whites and how will be the proportions. Thank you!! Best wishes and Happy Holiday!!
Hi Liliana! We found this doesn’t work that well with carton egg whites.
I made this and while it was still baking in the oven, the middle collapsed, and cracks appeared on the whole thing. Did this happen because I opened the oven to check on it? But it was still delicious taste wise but ugly look wise.
Hi Eliana. Over-beating the egg whites can cause this or a drastic change in temperature as well.
You can bake it in the shape of a ring, but leave a little trench all the way around. And then put the fruit in the trench. Every Christmas, I make a “Christmas wreath” pavolva. I put fresh whipped cream in the trench. And then I top it with berries, some mint leaves, and a dusting with a little bit of powdered sugar
That sounds amazing. I bet it’s beautiful. You can tag me on Instagram or Facebook for the holidays if you make it again. I’d love to see a picture. #natashaskitchen
So delicious! The recipe was easy to follow and was so good. My family all loved it.
Great to hear that your family enjoyed this recipe, Kim!
In the video you say bake for 1 hour 15 min. But in this recipe you say bake 1 1/2 hrs?? I’m making these today and don’t want them to come out wrong?? Also I ate pink ones, did they just use food coloring ? Just checking, I know they did but a certain kind like gel?. These are so good and just take along time in the oven. S9 I’m checking first
Hi Debbie! The video which states 1hr 15mins is for the miniature pavlova’s. This recipe above is for the larger pavlova, that is why the baking time is different. As for the coloring, it’s generally added to the meringue at the very end and then mixing for 10-20 more seconds until its incorporated. Powder or gel food colors work best.
My go-to recipe for pavlova! It’s always a hit and never a piece leftover! However, I will suggest that FINE granulated sugar works best for meringue in order for it to dissolve all the way and not have a gritty texture!
That’s wonderful, Inna! Thank you for sharing.