Christmas Pavlova Wreath!
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A Christmas pavlova wreath for the festive season containing your favourite berries, coulis, mint, and delicious whipped cream!
Winter is definitely one of my favourite times of year to do any baking, because it usually heavily features anything Christmas themed. I adore all christmas baking and I have done so many recipes now, but this pavlova wreath is by far one of my the best so far.
Pavlova wreath
I wanted to do something new and delicious! As I already wanted to post a new pavlova recipe, but with a winter theme I knew this was probably the best idea. Pavlova is such a great dessert, and it can look so impressive for something relatively simple! However, how do I make it ‘with a twist’?!
Anything that can be seen as showstopper is brilliant in my eyes, and a wreath shaped dessert is the way to level it up even more. It really is just a pavlova, shaped slightly different, but that is totally okay in my eyes.
Meringue
When it comes to the meringue, it’s quite simple. Technically, meringue can be made with just egg whites and sugar, but I like to use white wine vinegar and cornflour in my pavlova for the texture it brings to the pavlova, but I also like to add a little flavouring with some vanilla extract as well.
When making meringue you need to make sure that the bowl and whisk you are using are spotlessly clean, because any old grease or anything could ruin the meringue immediately. Another top tip is to make sure to break each egg into a bowl, and then tip the clean egg whites into the bowl you will be whisking in. As you do them individually, it prevents the risk of contaminating all of the egg whites with some dread egg yolk, or shell (which can also kill your meringue)
Making the meringue
Make the meringue itself is quite simple, it’s just a lot of whisking. I use my stand mixer because it does whisk for a long time, but it is possible by hand (your arm might just hurt at the end a bit). I whisk my egg whites to stiff peaks, and then start adding my caster sugar one teaspoon at a time. I know some other people add a larger amount of sugar at a time, but I prefer using a heaped teaspoon as it prevents the problem of adding too much.
I whisk until all my sugar is incorporated, and then whisk in the cornflour, the white wine vinegar, and the vanilla. I then use a very large baking tray, with two circles marked out (or I use a small bowl to guide the middle. I dollop the meringue into the wreath shape that is small than the tray as the meringue will grow as it bakes. You then bake it in the oven, and then turn the oven off and leave it to cool fully in the oven without opening the door – I prefer to do this overnight for ease.
Decoration/topping
I added my own little twists of my personal favourite fruits, a raspberry coulis, some mint, some freeze dried raspberries and some whipped cream – YUM! I realise that what I decorate mine with is pretty common, but its a pavlova, and I wanted it to look Christmas like, so I was a bit restricted on what I could use.
I think the white of the meringue and whipped cream teamed with the luscious red berries and green mint – you cant get a more festive colour combination. However, you can of course top your christmas pavlova wreath with whatever you prefer (like in my easter pavlova).
I made my own raspberry coulis, using the method from my New York cheesecake. Instead of using strawberries and raspberries though, I just used all raspberries. You can easily use shop bought coulis and there is no shame in that at all, I just love to make my own. I use these freeze dried raspberries but you can also buy them in a few supermarkets now such as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, and the other items you can get pretty much anywhere
Tips & Tricks
- This dessert is best served on the day of decorating because of the fresh cream and fruit
- The meringue itself can last 3 months, stored in a container at room temperature, so it can be made in advance of the day you need it
- It will last 2-3 days in the fridge however
- I use these freeze dried raspberries
- Make sure to have a spotlessly clean bowl and whisk
- Fresh eggs are better than the carton of egg whites
Christmas Pavlova
Christmas Pavlova Wreath!
Ingredients
For the Meringue
- 6 medium egg whites (or 5 large)
- 300 g white caster sugar
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Filling
- 450 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- Fresh fruit I used blackberries, pomegranate, raspberries, blueberries etc!
- Freeze dried raspberries
- Raspberry coulis
- Mint leaves
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 150C/130C Fan. Line a LARGE baking tray with baking parchment.
- Whisk the egg whites with an stand mixer – I use my Kitchen Aid until they form stiff peaks – when you reach this stage, start adding the sugar 1tsp at a time. Once all of the sugar is incorporated it should be glossy!
- One at a time, whisk in the white wine vinegar, then the cornflour, then the vanilla and whisk until smooth!
- Using a small bowl in the middle of the parchment paper, dollop the mixture around it so that once you remove the bowl, it’ll be a ring shape like a wreath!
- I use a tablespoon and do a large spoonful for each dollop and go round the small bowl till I have used all the mixture up. I then use a fork so spike up little bits to give it texture!
- Carefully lift out the bowl and bake in the oven for 1 hour – turn off the heat of the oven and leave to cool completely in the oven, without opening the door. I bake my meringues late at night, and leave them to cool overnight to make things easier!
- Prepare your fruit – chop up any fruits such as the strawberries, and clean all the berries thoroughly! Whip up the double cream with the icing sugar.
- Spread/dollop/pipe the whipped up cream onto the meringue and then add the fruit on top! Add a few mint leaves for colour, and sprinkle with icing sugar! I also used a little edible glitter for a bit of Christmas cheer! Enjoy!
Notes
- I used my favourite fruits as I LOVE them combined with cream and meringue – using seasonal berries are better compared to some of the ones I used, but I happen to know someone who manages to grow these delicious berries all year round and they taste amazing.
- Anything wintery will suit the dessert well! Frozen berries will also work, but they will produce moisture once they thaw!
- The icing sugar in the cream, and the vanilla in the pavlova are optional, but I like my desserts sweet.
- The vinegar & cornflour in the pavlova are needed to stabilise the meringue, so please don’t leave these out!
- The pavlova is classic, and it nearly always will have some cracks in it but this is the nature of such large meringues so don’t worry if it happens. As long as your oven is actually the correct temperature (it’s not always what you set it to) and you DON’T open the oven door to let it cool, it’ll be dandy!
- If you find you have some meringue left over (I personally didn’t) Make some mini pavlovas, and then make Eton mess with homemade meringues!
- The meringue itself can be made in advance and stored at room temperature, but its very delicate. I usually make the meringue in the evening and store in the oven (turned off) till I decorate in the morning.
- Once decorated this lasts 2 days!
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J x
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Hello, sometimes when I make pavalova or roulade it tastes eggy, I know when I take it out of the oven if it is going to as it smells eggy! Any idea why this might be. Thank you
Hi Jane what would be the best dairy free cream to use please? Thank you 😋
Hiya! Any dairy free cream listed as a whipping or double cream should work! Hope this helps! x
Hi I made a practice run of this the other day but the outside to be lovely and crisp whilst the inside was almost marshmallow like and a little sticky, is that how it is supposed to be or have I gone wrong somewhere? as I was expecting it to be chewy rather then soft, absolutely love your recipes so desperately want to get this right
Hiya! Yes that’s fine! Its a very light, marshmallowy texture, hope this helps! x
Hi Jane,
I would like to give this a trial run before Xmas with just half the ingredients to make a smaller one. Would the cooking time need to be adjusted?
Thanks x
Beautiful Pavolva. First night I decorated it with cream and fruit, the 2nd night it was stodgy. Not crispy or chewy in the middle. For Xmas dinner, would it be best to decorate with cream etc on the day and is it okay to make the meringue on the 24th and still be crisp and chewy in the inside on the 25th.
Hiya! Yes, that would be perfect! Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane. I don’t have a stand mixer. Could i use my hand mixer or would that work the mixture too quickly?
Thanks
Hiya! That will work absolutely fine, enjoy! x
Hi what temperature for the meringue in the oven (fan oven)
Looks delish x
Hiya! As per the recipe, 160ºC Fan. Hope this helps, enjoy! x
Hi Jane.. love this recipe and made it last year. Making it today and just realised I only have medium eggs and can’t get out. Should I use 6 do you think? Thank you x
Yes, 6 sounds great! Enjoy! x
I am just curious to know what you do with the leftover yolks? I’d love a recipe that uses them up.. any suggestions pls??? Thank you
Hiya! Take a look at my lemon Curd recipe! Hope this helps x
I want to do this for Xmas. I will do a few practices first as I feel nervous about making meringue! What gas mark would it need to be on as none of the recipient show gas mark. Thanks
I have tried and failed to do meringues so many times over the years, but finally SUCCESS!! It worked! Made my boxing day! Super easy and super tasty! Thank you!xx
I made this for Christmas day last year and was delicious. Wanting to make it again this year but thinking of making individual meringue nests rather than a large one. Would you recommend adjusting the baking time or would it roughly take the same time but keep an eye on the oven until they look done.
Hey! So I would follow the timings and temperature of this recipe for individual ones – https://www.janespatisserie.com/2018/10/12/chocolate-swirl-meringues/
Hi Jane,
I’m looking to make this for Christmas, but just a technical question, how do you know when the meringue is cooked properly?
The timings, it will definitely be baked properly!
how do you get the blobs so neat!? i use a tablespoon but your edges seems nice and round and even?
It’s just practice I think, but it doesn’t matter! As long as it’s delicious x
Just doing a pre-Christmas practice run, and it doesn’t seem to have gone quite right. I’m new to cooking with electric oven, and our new one has so many settings
I used 130 fan setting, but it looked to be going too brown early on in the bake, so I turned off the fan and baked at 140.
Came down this morning and there are so many cracks 🙈 and a little part has fallen in 😣
Was it too hot? Or could it be something else?
It sounds a little hot maybe? Fan is the best baking setting in my opinion, but you definitely need to make sure it’s on the right one! Mine has about 7 different weird settings but I’ve found the actual fan one if that makes sense! Pavlovas can crack a bit however x