These mini pavlovas topped with fresh mint, strawberries and mango, taste like little clouds! Served with a light strawberry coulis, this dessert is simply elegant and beautiful. However, don’t be intimidated by its fancy look! It’s actually simpler to make than you think. Crispy on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside, this is a great dessert to make if you are craving something lightly sweetened…or have too many egg whites on hand! Like me, after making my hollandaise sauce for my eggs benedict!
The pavlova dessert was made for Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in 1926 during her tour to those countries. This dessert became very popular and to this day, there is still debate for which country created it first. Traditionally, the pavlova is eaten with whipped cream, kiwis and/or strawberries. However, due to its versatility, there are endless of possibilities to pair your pavlovas with! What’s also great about this dessert is that you can make all of its parts ahead of time and it will take a few minutes to assemble when ready to serve! In this recipe, I will show you how to make individual sized pavlovas. In my opinion, mini pavlovas are great if you are only a few people in the household since the dessert needs to be eaten immediately.
Ingredients you will need to make this recipe
PRO TIPS FOR MAKING FRESH MINT STRAWBERRY & MANGO MINI PAVLOVAS
PREPARATION
On a parchment paper, draw a circle with a cookie cutter or any round shape that is 4 inch wide. This will help you shape the meringue. Make sure to invert the parchment paper and line it on a baking sheet. With some meringue leftover on the tip of your whisk, you can add on the corners of the parchment paper to stick against the baking sheet.
MAKING THE MERINGUE
- Make sure that your mixing bowl and whisk are dry, clean and exempt from any trace of oil before you add your egg whites. Egg whites that come into contact with oil or water will not form a nice stiff meringue. One way to ensure that your equipment is clean is to wipe your bowl and whisk with a bit of lemon juice or vinegar. I don’t take a chance so I do this every time…this trick has never failed me!
- Start to beat your egg whites on medium or medium-low until foamy before increasing the speed. This will help stabilizing and build the meringue. When it gets to the foamy stage, you can add the lemon juice or cream of tartar and increase speed to medium-high.
- When it reaches a soft peak, like in the picture below, you can slowly drizzle sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks. If you add the sugar too quickly, the meringue will not have time to dissolve the it and hence, it will deflate.
- Once you reach the stiff peak stage as like the picture below, you can add the cornstarch and vanilla extract. It’s the cornstarch that will make the center of your mini pavlova have a marshmallowy texture.
- Your finished meringue should look shiny and soft. Additionally, its tip should bend a little because of the cornstarch.
LAYING OUT THE MERINGUE
What is great about making pavlovas is that you don’t need any special dessert or cake decoration equipment! However, you can use a pipping bag and pipping tip if you have them. Here are the two techniques of laying out the meringue onto the parchment paper.
With a small rubber spatula or spoon method: Add the meringue within the drawn circle you’ve done earlier on the parchment paper. Build the edge by pressing in the middle to leave a shallow dip for the filling.
With a piping bag and piping tip method: Pipe within the drawn circle starting at the bottom and continue your way on the edge to build a “wall” that can hold the whipped cream filling. In this picture, I used the star piping tip 1M from Wilton.
It does not matter how you shape your meringue as long as there is a dip for the whipped cream. It also may not look as “nice” (like mine with the spoon method!), but once everything is assembled, they will turn out beautiful. The spoon/spatula method gives a rustic look while the piping technique makes your dessert look more elegant. Regardless of the method you choose, they will come out so delicious!
COOKING THE MINI PAVLOVAS
The key in making pavlovas crispy is to bake them at a low temperature. In a preheated oven at 250°F, add your baking sheet and reduce the oven temperature to 200°F. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Once it is done, turn off the heat and leave the oven door closed for 2 hours. This will help drying them out. Cracks are normal and expected, but they should remain fairly pale in color.
MAKING THE STRAWBERRY COULIS
- In a small saucepan on medium-low heat, add sliced strawberries, water and lemon juice. Bring it to a boil, add sugar and decrease to a simmer for 20 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature.
- In a bowl of a blender, add the strawberry mixture and pulse for about 10 seconds, until pureed. The consistency should be more liquid than jam so it can fall off your dessert nicely. However, your coulis should not look watery either.
- This should yield about 1/2 cup. You can refrigerate the coulis until ready to serve.
- If your coulis is too watery, you can add 1 or 2 strawberries at a time and blend it until you reach the coulis consistency.
SERVING THE DESSERT
Only assemble the baked meringue shell, whipped cream, coulis and fresh fruits once you are ready to serve. This will only take a few minutes. If you assemble them too early, the whipped cream and coulis will melt into the meringue.
As a test, I assembled one and checked every half hour to see how well it would stand. As it turned out, it can last almost 90 minutes so I’d say the earliest you can assemble your dessert is 1 hour before serving! Moreover, the meringue shells need to be cooled at room temperature before you add the whipped cream. Otherwise, it will melt.
STORING THE DESSERT
You can store the strawberry coulis in an airtight container up to 7 days in the refrigerator. As for the meringue shells, they can be plastic wrapped and put in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Moreover, they can be freezed up to 3 months.
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Cookie cutter or any round shape of 4 inch and pencil
- Baking sheet
- Pipping bag and pipping tip Optional
Ingredients
For the mini pavlovas
- 4 (120g) egg whites, room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp (5ml) lemon juice or ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp (4g) cornstarch
For the whipped cream filling
- 1½ cup (360ml) cold heavy whipping cream
- 3 Tbsp (25g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
For the strawberry coulis
- ½ lb strawberries washed and sliced into quarters
- 2 Tbsp (30ml) water
- 2 tsp (10ml) lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp (37g) white granulated sugar
For the fresh fruit topping
- ½ lb strawberries sliced
- 1 mango diced into ½ inch cubes
- ¼ cup fresh mint chopped
Instructions
Making the mini pavlovas:
- Preheat oven to 250°F. On a parchment paper, draw a circle with a cookie cutter or any round shape of 4 inch. Invert the parchment paper and line it on a baking sheet.
- In a dry and clean mixing bowl with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed, beat egg whites until foamy.
- Add lemon juice or cream of tartar and increase speed to medium-high. Slowly drizzle sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks.
- Add vanilla extract and cornstarch. Whisk until all combined.
- With a small rubber spatula or spoon: Add the meringue within the drawn circle you’ve done earlier on the parchment paper. Build the edge and leave a shallow dip for the filling.ORWith a piping bag and piping tip: Pipe within the drawn circle starting at the bottom and continue your way on the edge to build a “wall” that can hold the whipped cream filling.
- Place baking sheet in the middle rack and decrease oven heat to 200°F. Bake for 75 minutes. Turn off oven heat and leave the oven door closed for 2 hours.
Making the whipped cream filling:
- In a mixing bowl with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed, whisk cold heavy whipping cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Making the strawberry coulis
- In a small saucepan on medium-low heat, add sliced strawberries, water and lemon juice. Bring it to a boil, add sugar and decrease to a simmer for 20 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature.
- In a bowl of a blender, add the strawberry mixture and pulse for about 10 seconds, until pureed.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
When ready to serve:
- Add whipped cream in the dip of the baked meringue shell. Add sliced strawberries, cubed mangoes and chopped mint. Finish by pouring 2-3 teaspoons of strawberry coulis. Serve immediately or within the hour.
Nutrition
* Nutrition disclosures and disclaimer
If you liked my fresh mint strawberry and mango mini pavlovas, you can use those egg yolk by making my exotic Tahitian vanilla rum & orange crème brûlée!
