Pavlova Cake Recipe - Red, White and Blue Dessert (2024)

PavlovaCake is light as air, fluffy as the softest pillow, absolutely delightful meringue dessert that combines, marshmallowy pavlova cake, fluffy whipped cream, and berries that come together into a delicious and simple dessert.

Coming to this recipe I have baked a good share of Pavlova Cakes and not one has come out wrong or bad. I am convinced that if you follow the instructions below you’ll be able to re-create this stunner Pavlova yourself!

So, what is Pavlova?

Pavlova Cake is made with egg whites and sugar as the main ingredients, which are then whipped and shaped into a disk to make a cake layer. It’s naturally gluten free and once baked it looks like a beautiful cloud of fluff, crispy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. Traditionally it is topped with whipped cream and berries, or curds.

Tricks for perfect meringue

Many have troubles with meringue or meringue-based desserts, but in their simplicity, they require very little of effort or know how to come out perfect. There are several things to keep in mind when working with meringue. Check a more complete guide to perfect meringue HERE.

• Start with thoroughly cleaned utensils for whipping. Any stray egg yolk or streak of grease can hinder the whipping of the egg whites.
• Whip the meringue for long enough. Sometimes, you whip the meringue for 2-3 minutes and it looks like it’s increased in volume and it’s good to go. But, the meringue goes through stages, first is when it’s whipped to a good volume, but the air bubbles are large and unstable. As you continue whipping it, the meringue deflates a bit and it looks like there’s less of it. Then, you continue whipping it and it increases in volume again. That’s the stable meringue you’re looking for.

Cornstarch or No Cornstarch in Pavlova Cake

You can make the pavlova with or without cornstarch. If you’re a newbie to meringue though, I would start with recipes that have the cornstarch added. The cornstarch stabilizes the meringue and keeps it from deflating or collapsing as you take it out of the oven. The meringue with cornstarch does have a bit of grittiness to it. So continue perfecting your meringue game until you can make it stable with no cornstarch added.

How to make perfect white meringue

The lower the temperature, the whiter the meringue will be. Using the convection setting in your oven will allow you to reduce the heat at which the meringue dries, while still getting the job done.

If using the bake setting in the oven, dry the meringue at 225F. If using the convection setting, you can reduce it to 200F.

This perfect Red White and Blue dessert in the form of Pavlova is the perfect dessert for a family get-togethers (easy 4th of July dessert recipe, anyone?), or parties. Even though it needs to be assembled right before serving (for best results), it takes 5 minutes to do that.

How to make this Pavlova a Make-Ahead-Dessert

If you bake the meringue the morning of and refrigerate the whipped cream, all you have to do is layer the dessert. I keep the Pavlova disk inside the oven until I am ready to assemble. I have baked the meringue as much as 8 hours before assembling it without any loss in quality.

The balance of sweet meringue and unsweetened whipped cream balances nicely and the berries provide the needed tartness. If you’re not a fan of heavy, cakey desserts, this one’s for you!

• Don’t bother using the freshest eggs you can find for meringue-based desserts. Egg whites whip better if the eggs are not super fresh. A couple days or even a week old is best.
• Granulated sugar or powdered sugar can be used interchangeably, as long as you use the same amount by weight, not volume.

Add the egg whites and sugar to a bowl of a mixer and whip for about 15 minutes, or until stiff peaks form. Then sift in the cornstarch and cream of tartar and gently fold it in.

Transfer the pavlova mixture to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 1hour at 225F. Then turn off heat, stick a wooden spoon into the oven door and cool for 30 minutes. After that remove from the oven and cool completely.

How to make the Vanilla Whipped Cream:

Combine the cream, vanilla extract, and rum in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Do not overwhip or the cream might separate and become grainy.

How to layer the Berry Pavlova Cake

Transfer the Pavlova Disk to a platter, then spoon the cream on top and sprinkle with berries.

How gorgeous does this look?!

Want to see more Meringue Desserts? Click HERE!

Wondering what to do with all those EGG YOLKS? Here ya go!

• Homemade 4 ingredient Pasta Recipe – Savory option to accompany your dessert 🙂
• CremeBrûlée– super simple, super easy, but oh so, so delicious!
• Baked French Toast? – Oh yes!!