Berry Passionate Pavlova

Regardless of the fact that I am under resourced (hahahaha funny, it’s really just me and my amazing Kakak who helps me separate egg whites and line my baking pans… yikes…), it was so much fun! A wonderful experience, and one that I am really looking forward to do again. Except this time, I may be more realistic and not bite off more than I can chew. 

The dessert table that the lovely bride-to-be requested included the following items:

1. 1 small two-tiered cake (beetroot chocolate with my new favourite cream cheese frosting)
2. 3 6-inch cakes (vanilla cake with strawberry champagne filling, hummingbird cake, strawberry cake)
3. 24 mini tiered cakes (chocolate cake with swiss meringue buttercream)
4. 24 mini pavlovas (strawberry pavlova with freshly whipped cream, and a passionfruit syrup topping)
5. 24 cupcakes (earl grey tea cakes with aforementioned new favourite cream cheese frosting)
6. A tray of chocolate brownies (the recipe of which I have yet to share)

Out of these items, I have chosen to share the recipe for the Berry Passionate Pavlova with you lot (yay!). It’s really simple to make, and just takes a little bit more effort and time than I usually prefer. I do hope you give it a shot, or if you’re too lazy and live/work around the Kuala Lumpur area, then please do drop me a comment and I’ll swing by with a box of these lovelies for you. Heeeheee shameless plugging. 

Berry Passionate Pavlova

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 2 tsp distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp strawberry extract (I used a clear extract, then coloured with a drop of Wilton’s Dusky Pink gel colouring)

1. Preheat the oven to 150C, and line a few baking trays with parchment paper
2. Beat egg whites in a free standing mixer using the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, start at the lowest speed and gradually (but rather quickly) increase the speed to medium-high. This should take around 5 – 8 minutes, depending on the humidity of the room you’re in
3. Then slowly add in the sugar, I like to allow it to trickle into the bowl while it’s mixing 
4. Once the sugar is incorporated, add the cornflour, beat for a bit more, then add the vinegar… beat a bit more
5. Then finally add the strawberry extract and colouring / OR you could just not and have plain meringue pavlovas
6. To make mini bite-sized pavlovas, transfer the meringue mixture into a piping bag and pipe onto the baking trays. I used a Wilton 1M tip to create a rose effect, however you may also just do dollops in a bag or with a spoon (whatever is easiest for you, you don’t need to go out and buy tools and tips if you don’t have them). 
7. Pop them in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes. Start watching them around 35 minutes cos the smaller they are, the faster they bake, and you want to retain a marshmallowy centre with a crisp outer shell. At this point, what I do is just tap the sides with the back of a butter knife to see if they are hard and crisp. If they are, then I like to take them out at that point

WOW long winded instructions, lol but these are REALLY surprisingly darned easy to make
Then once the meringues have cooled, you may choose to enjoy them as is or top with freshly whipped cream and fruits. I chose to drizzle some passionfruit syrup over it that I had leftover from previous recipes.

Enjoy!
xx Nabs