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    Home » Cooking Stuff

    Make an Easy Pavlova with a Raspberry Compote.

    July 16, 2019 by Karen 39 Comments

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    Eggs, sugar, and fresh seasonal berries are pretty much all it takes to make this easy, IMPRESSIVE dessert.  Mini Pavlova with juicy berries, whipped cream and raspberry compote. Hellooooo summer!

    Mini Pavlova with fresh berries, whipped cream and raspberry compote.

    Skip right to the recipe.

    Make mini individual pavlovas so everyone gets the perfect amount of berries, whipped cream and crispiness.


    In the thick cloud of summertime heat, talk up at my community garden always turns to one of two things:  Do you think I need to water today?  And, Any idea what I can do with all these raspberries?  The answers are typically yes, you should always water and yes, you can make jam.

    I don't know about the rest of the gardeners, but I have enough jam. I still have jam from 2015. Even my peanut butter is sick of the raspberry jam.

    Last week, however, a chain of events occurred that changed the way that second question would be answered for years to come. 

    I was outside of my house pulling weeds when a neighbour walked over under the pretense of saying hello. It was later confirmed he really only came over to see how loud his air conditioning sounded from afar but thought it would be creepy to come stand next to me and not say anything.

    That led to another neighbour walking over and I can't pinpoint when in the conversation things turned to booze but I feel like it was immediately.  I walked away from the impromptu get together with a fistful of weeds and a new answer to the raspberry question.

    RASPBERRY GIN. But nope. We're not making raspberry gin today.  Up at the garden the next night, raspberry gin talk turned to raspberry compote and THAT is how we got to this point today.  

    Making a crisp on the outside, marshmallowy on the inside pavlova with fresh berries and a tart/sweet raspberry compote.


    The Raspberry Gin recipe my neighbours and I were talking about if you're interested  is from Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management (circa 1861).  Drunkie.


    Table of Contents

    • How to Make Pavlova.
    •  
    • Easy Pavlova with Raspberry Compote.

    How to Make Pavlova.

    Cracked eggshells, silver measuring spoons, bottle of vanilla extract and white and stainless-steel bowls on wooden countertop.

    Gather up all your stuff.

    This is where I tell you to to use the freshest, freshy, farm-fresh eggs you can get.  And then you'll all scatter and use whatever eggs they carry at the grocery store because only hipsters, homesteaders and lunatics have farm-fresh eggs within arm's reach at all times. You're gonna need 4 of them.

    Hand adding a tablespoon of sugar to mixing bowl containing beaten egg whites.

    Pavlova is really just meringue that's been baked until crisp.  So whipped egg whites with sugar. You can do that, can't you? 

    Would you like to save this stuff?

    We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.

    Beater and mixing bowl with beaten egg whites.

    They get beaten until thick and glossy.

    Hand placing parchment paper with circles drawn on it onto a baking tray.

    Then you just plop the meringue onto a piece of parchment paper with circles drawn on it to give you a guide. 


    Pro tip:  Put a dab of meringue on each corner of the cookie sheet before you place the parchment paper down.  It'll act like a glue to keep your parchment paper from slipping all over the place as you're dolloping the meringue onto it.


    Meringues on baking tray ready to go in oven.

    This recipe makes enough for 8-10 individual meringues (depending on how big you make your circles). And remember, don't make your meringues too thin.  Really plop it on there. 

    Once you've plopped your meringues, press the back of a spoon into the top of each of them to make a bit of a well for the berries and whipped cream.  You can stick them in the oven at this point and make the raspberry compote, which is just raspberries and sugar.

    Frozen raspberries in pot with sugar jar in background.

    My raspberries haven't come in at full force yet so I used frozen raspberries (totally acceptable) for the compote, and my fresh picked raspberries for topping the pavlovas.

    Pouring sugar into pot containing frozen raspberries.

    Like I said.  Raspberries and sugar (also you need a bit of acidity so I'll have you add lemon juice or red wine vinegar.)

    Baked meringues stacked in front of baking sheet.

    The trick to knowing when to pull the Pavlovas out of the oven (they get cooked on a very low temperature for an hour or so) is if they feel dry to the touch.  Once they feel dry like the outside of a marshmallow, they're done and you can turn the oven off.  

    If you overcook them don't worry about it, they'll just be crispy all the way through instead of crispy on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside.

    Meringue topped with raspberry compote, fresh berries and whipped cream on white plate with silver spoon. Vase of flowers in background.

    Top everything with a dollop (official term approved by anyone who has ever eaten it) of whipped cream.

     

    Easy Pavlova with Raspberry Compote.

    With just a few ingredients you can create this summertime dessert in no time.
    4.67 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour
    Cooling time: 1 hour hour
    Total Time: 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes
    Servings: 8
    Calories: 437kcal

    Ingredients

    Pavlova

    • 4 egg whites room temperature
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 pinch kosher salt
    • 2 tsps cornstarch
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice can use vinegar
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

    Raspberry Compote

    • 400 grams raspberries fresh or frozen
    • 400 grams sugar
    • 2 ½ tsps red wine vinegar can use lemon juice

    Whipped Cream

    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Instructions

    Pavlova

    • Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
    • Draw 3.5" circles on a piece of parchment paper cut to the size of your baking sheet. Use a vegetable can as a guide. You can flip your parchment over and see the circles from the underside. This way you won't be putting your meringue right on the lead pencil markings.
    • Whip the egg whites (be very careful to not get ANY yolk into your egg whites when separating) and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer (with whisk attachment). Beat the egg whites on high speed until they firm up. (1 minute or so)
    • With the mixer still on high, slowly add the sugar tablespoon by tablespoon and beat until firm, glossy, peaks form. To make sure the sugar is completely dissolved rub some meringue between your fingers to check for graininess. Beat it a bit more until the texture is smooth.
    • Once beaten, sift the cornstarch evenly onto the beaten egg whites. Add the lemon juice (or vinegar) and vanilla and carefully fold it all together with a rubber spatula.
    • Dab a little bit of meringue between the parchment paper and your baking sheet to help stop the paper from moving around when you form the pavlovas.
    • Plop the meringue into the middle of the circles on the parchment paper. Using a spoon press a well into the centre of each one. Bake for 45 minutes then test the pavlovas for doneness by touching their sides. If they're sticky bake another 15 minutes. Once they're dry and starting to feel firm and not completely wobbly turn off the oven BUT keep the pavlovas in the cooling oven for another hour. Remove them from the oven after an hour and build your pavlovas or store them in an airtight container on the counter for a few days.
    • To build the pavlova, drizzle with Raspberry compote, top with fresh berries and a large dollop of whipped cream.

    Raspberry Compote

    • Bring all three ingredients to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.
    • Strain the mixture with a fine sieve, pressing it out with a rubber spatula. Rinse the remaining mixture and seeds in the sieve with ¾ cup of very hot water. The rinsing will get every last bit of berry flavour out and thin your compote to the right consistency.
    • Stir and bring to the boil again, then bottle and keep refrigerated for several days or indefinitely in the freezer.

    Whipped Cream

    • Whip heavy cream until it shows signs of thickening then add sugar and vanilla.
    • Continue whipping until soft, pillowy peaks form. Don't over whip or you'll end up with butter.

    Notes

    Both your oven and the type of baking sheet you use will alter the length of time the pavlovas take to cook.  So your cooking time may very. Just keep checking them after 45 minutes. If you've cooked them until they're solid enough to easily lift off of the baking sheet, you've cooked them a bit too much and they'll be crispy all the way through once they're cooled.  

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1g | Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 43mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 79g | Vitamin A: 455IU | Vitamin C: 13.5mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 0.4mg

    Now. Do you think I need to water today?

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    1. Paula

      May 06, 2023 at 10:04 am

      Every year I make my wonderful Aussie Son-in-Law a Pavolva for his birthday. Every year it is different ( don’t ask). For what it’s worth, the Australians in his family suggest that I use caster sugar ( smaller crystals). When I can’t source it, I pulse my sugar in the food processor. It blends more easily into the egg whites.

      Reply
      • Karen

        May 06, 2023 at 3:39 pm

        Yes! Here fruit sugar is what we used but they don't actually sell "fruit sugar" anymore. So food processor pulsing is magical for sugar! ~ karen

        Reply
    2. Carolyn Boyd

      July 29, 2019 at 8:15 pm

      Love Pavlova. I've been making it for years, but it's been having a comeback lately. I once made it for a dinner party with lemon curd as a topping; my friend's hubby ate his piece, went back for a second and then licked the serving plate!

      Reply
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