This Valentine's pavlova wreath is made of French meringue hearts baked to chewy perfection, filled with whipped cream, and topped with fresh raspberries—the perfect love-filled showstopper!
Equipment
- Digital Scale
- Mixing Bowls
- Mixer
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- 1 Circle 8 1/2-inch wide for tracing
- Thick Paper
- Sharpie
- Scissors
- Piping Bag
- Spatulas
- Spoon
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Fine Mesh Sieve
Ingredients
PAVLOVA
- 100 g egg whites approx. 3 eggs, room temperature
- ½ tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 100 g granulated sugar approx. ½ cup granulated sugar
- 100 g powdered sugar sifted
TOPPING
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 ¾ tbsp powdered sugar a little over ¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 12 ounces fresh raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 212°F
- To start, draw your heart wreath onto a piece of parchment paper. Take an 8 ½-inch plate or circle and place it onto a sheet of parchment paper, large enough to fit on your baking tray. Trace the circle onto the center of your parchment paper with a sharpie. Then, using a piece of paper (thicker is easier - like poster board) and cut out a 4-inch square. Fold the square in half and on the bent side, draw half of a heart, filling as much of the space as possible. Cut out the half of the heart, open it, and now you have your full heart shape! Using your cut-out heart, work around the circle to trace 6 hearts onto your parchment paper, leaving no more than ¼-inch of space inbetween. Flip your parchment paper over, sharpie side down, and place on your baking tray.
- For your meringue, add your egg whites to a clean bowl with space for growth
- With your mixer on low speed, beat your egg whites until nice and frothy, with no loose liquid at the bottom.
- Add in your vinegar and cornstarch and beat until medium-soft peaks form (aka the mixture has stiffened but not completely and it still moves around in the bowl).
- A few spoonfuls at a time, add your granulated sugar, beat, and repeat until all the sugar is added. You should have glossy, stiff peaks at this point. If you want to test your work, you can flip the bowl upside down and nothing should fall out.
- Sift in your powdered sugar and, using a metal spoon, gently fold in the sugar until just combined. Be very careful at this stage not to knock out any excess air from the meringue.
- Gently place your meringue into a piping bag and cut the tip off the bag, enough to give yourself about a ¾-inch opening
- On your parchment-lined baking tray, follow the outlines you have drawn to start piping your hearts to form a wreath. As you pipe, the outlines of each heart should touch the ones next to it. After you’ve piped the outlines, fill in the bottom of the heart in one layer. Next, following the edge of the heart, pipe the first outline of the basket. Repeat on top of that to form a second border. Be sure to pipe one rim right on top of the other, and don’t do more than two, as you will risk the weight being too heavy and the edges of the basket collapsing in the oven
- When all of your baskets are piped, place on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 55 minutes
- Turn your oven off but leave the baked meringues in the oven with the door slightly cracked. Allow them to cool completely in the oven for an hour. Allowing them to cool slowly with help prevent them from cracking
- While your meringue is cooling, make your whipped cream. Add your heavy cream to a bowl and sift your powdered sugar over it. Whisk together until the mixture has thickened to whipped cream. If done by hand, this will take a few minutes. Be careful not to overwhip and curdle your cream. Place your whipped cream in the fridge until you're ready to assemble your pavlovas.
- Once everything is cooled, add your whipped cream into each heart basket and top with raspberries!
- Enjoy immediately!
Notes
*If you don’t have a full flat baking tray (aka there is no rim along the edge), flip your baking sheet over to ensure a flat surface for baking and to easily slide your pavlova off of it once it’s cooled
*Use a thick marker like a Sharpie to trace your hearts. You will need to flip your parchment paper over, and a dark, thick outline will make it easier to trace with your piping bag
*Make sure the bowl you use to whip up your French meringue is completely clean, dry, and free of any fats. You can lightly dampen a towel with white vinegar and wipe down your bowl to ensure this. Any residue inside your bowl could prevent your meringue from properly forming
*Your eggs should be room temperature to properly whip up
*Cut the tip off your bag to leave between a ½”-¾” opening. This will ensure you’re piping a thick enough (but not too thick) meringue outline!
*Don’t pipe more than two layers above your base layer to form your basket. If you pipe too many, the weight of the meringue will force the hearts to collapse in the oven
*I received the recipe for this French meringue from Chef Ash during my pastry course
