Summer Berry Pavlova
The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.
We’re super excited here because of all the Summer berries. We only grow strawberries, blueberries, and red currants at home, but our family, friends, and neighbors have others as well, so we go pick them up almost on a daily basis. This year is a very good year for all kinds of berries. There are so so many of them everywhere and I’m not complaining 🙂
So last week I had this huge amount of all the colorful berries so I made pavlova. Because there’s no dessert that screams summer like a pavlova. Don’t you agree?
Although I really love a chocolate pavlova, Summer screams for a more refreshing version like this berry pavlova. Just a little bit of cream, fresh summer berries, and quick homemade berry syrup. I mean, aren’t berries and cream the best flavors of Summer?
This recipe makes more syrup than is necessary, because it’ very hard to make syrup from a very small amount of berries. But you can store it in the fridge and use on ice creams, fruit salads, coctails or simly make a refreshing drink by diluting it in some cold water 🙂
So is this berry pavlova hard to make?
The good thing about Pavlova is that it’s actually pretty easy to make, once you know a few basics:
- Know your oven. I was baking it in my mom’s oven (since my oven is dying and the temps are all over the place). I almost never bake in her oven so I’m not used to it and the first pavlova came out too baked on the outside (brown). Nothing wrong with that actually, it still tastes good, but I wanted a nice snow-white pavlova (we ate the brown one too, of course)
- Humidity. Very humid weather can mess with your pavlova. If your pavlova fails, this could be the reason.
- Timing. Timing really depends on how thick your pavlova is and also the temperature you’re baking at. Since you shouldn’t open the oven while baking, you should do some research on timing or follow the recipe 🙂
- Really beat in the sugar. The sugar needs to completely dissolve otherwise the eggwhites will turn liquid and you’ll end up with a weeping pavlova.
Summer Berry Pavlova
Ingredients
Meringue
- 3 large egg whites (100g)
- 3/4 cup caster sugar (150g)
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- pinch of salt
Berry Syrup
- 2 cups strawberries cubed (250g)
- ½ cup sugar (100g)
- 2 TBSP lemon juice or white vinegar
Other ingredients
- 1 cup whipping cream (250ml), use coconut cream for a non-dairy version
- 2 cups fresh Summer berries
Instructions
Meringue
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Preheat the oven to 130°C. If you're using a fan oven, shut off the fan. Draw a 18cm circle on a baking paper and place it on a baking tray.
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Beat eggwhites and a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Then add caster sugar a tablespoon at a time. At the end add the lemon juice or vinegar and cornstarch. Beat gently until thick and glossy. You can make a test if the meringue is done: place a bit of the meringue between two fingers and see if you can feel the sugar. If you can still feel some sugar, then you need to beat them a little longer until you can't feel the sugar no more.
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Spread the meringue evenly into a circle, making the edge a little higher that the center. Alternatively, you can pipe the meringue onto the paper for a different look.
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Move into the oven and reduce the temperature to 100°C. Bake for about 90 minutes. It should look crisp on top and feel dry, but when you press it you should feel soft in the centre.
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Turn the oven off, open the door slightly and leave in the oven to cool overnight.
Berry Syrup
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Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook for 15-20 minutes until the syrup starts to thinken. Leave to cool completely, befor pouring it over pavlova. The syrup will thicken more as it cools down.
Assembling the cake
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment add the heavy whipping cream and whip until soft or stiff peaks form (depending on your taste).
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Top the cooled meringue with cream right before serving. Top with berries and pour over a little berry syrup.
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If you're not eating the entire pavlova at once, it's better to pour syrup on cut pieces separately, otherwise the pavlova will get soggy. If you store an assebled pavlova, take into consideration that it will get softer.
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Store a non-assembled pavlove covered on the counter (not air-tight) for 1-2 days before assembilng.
