Mini Citrus Pavlova With Prosecco

What Exactly is Pavlova? Where Did Pavlova Come From?

Pavlova is a meringue based dessert topped with some sort of cream and seasonal fruit. This light and airy dessert came about after Russian Ballerina, Anna Pavlova, toured New Zealand and Australia in the 1920’s, however, there are two different stories as to the origins of the pavlova as both New Zealand and Australia squabble over its invention. In the New Zealand version, inspiration came from Anna’s tutu when invented at the Wellington hotel. In the Australian version, one diner of the dessert claimed it was “as light as Pavlova” at Hotel Perth.

Despite these interesting stories, Pavlova recipes seemed to exist well before Anna Pavlova made her tour. An Australian and a New Zealander found over a hundred German and American recipes of meringue based cake looking a lot like pavlova. The Pavlova recipe made its way to Australia and New Zealand on a cornstarch box as an American export. Read more about the pavlova origin date here!

How to Make Mini Citrus Pavlova:

What is in a Pavlova? What is a Pavlova made out of?

A pavlova dessert is a gluten free dessert composed of baked meringue, cream topping, and fresh fruit. The meringue contains egg whites and sugar with vinegar and cornstarch for strengthening, although you can substitute lemon juice instead of vinegar in a pavlova. The cream topping in this pavlova recipe is just Chantilly cream, or whipped cream, with Prosecco in it, however, I have seen pastry creams as well as curds. I chose winter fruits, namely citrus, for this winter pavlova, but you can really use any type of fresh fruit.

Macerate the Winter Citrus Fruit

Before we can macerate the citrus fruits you chose, you first have to segment them! Segmenting, or supreming is the act of removing the segments of citrus without the white separator. First step is slice off the top and bottom, then slicing off the rind and white pith in a curving motion of the knife. Holding the fruit in your hand, slice on both sides of the white separator and remove the segment.

Now we want to give the citrus some time to get some extra flavor. Macerating is a way to slowly soften a food product and soak up some flavor. Here, we use a little bit of sugar to draw out extra liquid from the citrus and to soak up the mint and Prosecco flavors. Let that sit and marinate while you make and bake the meringue.

Make and Bake the Meringue

There are three types of meringues: American, Swiss, and Italian. Each one is cooked differently. American style is just the eggs and sugar with no cooking and is the least stable. Swiss style cooks the egg whites and sugar until the sugar dissolves and has a medium stability. And Italian style cooks the sugar to 250*F and is the most stable. Depending on what you’re making depends on what stye of meringue you should use. Since we are just making shells, Swiss works well here.

You simply cook the whites and sugar over a double boiler (a bowl over a pot of simmering water) until the sugar dissolves whisking minimally. Then you whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Done. First, never allow the bowl to touch the surface of the water or else you may quickly cook your egg whites. Second, watch out for any fat (i.e. egg yolks, cream, etc). Fat will discourage the egg whites from whipping up. You can wipe down the bowl and attachments with white vinegar if you’re nervous.

Once you have made the meringue, ready a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Spray either with pan spray. You can either use a scoop or a big spoon to get the individual portions of meringue onto the sheet pan. Once you’ve portioned all the meringue, you will want to make a small well to hold the cream and fruit. I use the back of a spoon and spray the spoon lightly with pan spray so it doesn’t turn into a sticky mess. Bake for no more than an hour. This will allow the outside to be crunchy and the middle to retain the marshmallow texture. Allow to cool fully before finishing.

Whip up the Prosecco Chantilly Cream

I would not whip this up until a couple hours before serving. Chantilly cream, more commonly known as whipped cream, will deflate the longer it sits out, especially with the boozy Prosecco added. You can either hand whip the heavy cream or use a hand or stand mixer. Whip until medium peaks, then slowly add the Prosecco while whipping on low speed. Whip until stiff peaks, and be careful not to overwhip! If you do slightly overwhip, fold in some heavy cream with a spatula.

Finish and Serve the Mini Citrus Pavlova

It is best to compose the pavlova right before serving because we don’t want the whipped cream or refreshing fruit to disintegrate the meringue shell. Composing is fairly simple: top the meringue with a spoonful or two of the Chantilly cream then top with the fruit. Use a slotted spoon when topping the fruit because, again, we don’t want the liquid to melt the meringue. Top with powdered sugar and a mint leaf if desired, and serve!

Troubleshooting Mini Citrus Pavlova Recipe:

• My meringue didn’t whip up! You are either using carton egg whites, fat has come into contact with the whites, or your mixer is too big. You will need to start over, so when you do with fresh whites, clean the bowl with soap and hot water and wipe out with a vinegar dampened towel. Also, your bowl may be too big and the amount of product too small for the whip attachment to catch. Double the recipe and only use half OR carefully lift the bowl up a little throughout the whole whipping process.
• My meringue is crunchy all the way through! Your oven temperature was too high or you baked for too long! It’s okay to serve if it’s crunchy all the way through, but next time, lower the temperature or do not bake for as long.
• I overwhipped my Chantilly cream! If you only slightly overwhipped, you can save it by adding a splash or two of heavy cream to it and folding with a spatula. However, if that doesn’t do the trick then there’s no saving it and you have to remake. If that’s the case then only whip until medium before adding the Prosecco then carefully watch it whip up to stiff peaks.

Something else going wrong? Reach out and we will troubleshoot together!