Pavlova cake with berries & cream

Pavlova cake with berries & cream

As well as looking gorgeous, this wedding cake also doubles as dessert

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 12 - 14

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

plus cooling

Method

  1. Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas ½. Draw three circles, 20cm, 16cm and 12cm on baking parchment (a compass is really good for this). Flip the paper onto baking sheets, so the pen is underneath.
  2. Whisk whites until stiff peaks form on the ends of the electric whisk. Tip in a quarter of the sugar, whisk back to stiff, then repeat once adding the cornflour and vinegar, before folding in remaining sugar. Spoon the mixture into the circles, shaping to fill, smoothing the centre but leaving the edges rough. Bake for 30 mins then turn down to 100C/80C fan/gas ¼ and cook for 1½ hrs more - they will peel away from the parchment when done. Cool in oven with the door slightly ajar. Meringues will keep for 2 weeks in an airtight container.
  3. Whip cream with the icing sugar and vanilla, drop in the berries and fold just once or twice. Chill for up to 24 hrs until ready to assemble - the Pavlovas are best assembled no more than 1 hr before serving.
  4. Peel the meringues completely from paper and stack on a serving plate, layering with cream. Arrange a few more berries on top, then dust with icing sugar.
Try

Want a cake to cut?

Here's how to make just one dramatic, centrepiece cake that will double as dessert for around 40 guests, and can be assembled in the morning. Make the meringue recipe and shape into 23cm, 20cm and 17cm circles. Bake as above, then make a second batch and shape into 26cm, 14cm, 11cm and 8cm circles, again baking as above. Multiply the vanilla cream by 4 and berries by 6, but don't mix.

To assemble

Dot small spoons of cream on each Pavlova. Gently stack from largest to smallest on your serving plate. Dust with a little icing sugar, then serve with remaining cream and berries on the side. (Adding berries and more cream to the layers will make them too heavy when there are so many to stack.)

PER SERVING (12)

413 kcalories, protein 3.0g, carbohydrate 63.0g, fat 18.0 g, saturated fat 10.0g, fibre 1.0g, sugar 62.0g, salt 0.17 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2011.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 02 May 2011

    Jackie W commented on this recipe

    Made it for girls' weekend away for a 50th. Easy to transport unassembled. OMG! Just divine and huge and easy peasy. Impressive!

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  • 02 May 2011

    Jackie W commented on this recipe

    I meant the cake was easy to transport, not the girls......

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  • 28 May 2011

    Lois commented on this recipe

    Looked brilliant and tasted pretty good too - a show stopper for a dinner party!

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  • 28 May 2011

    Lois rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 26 December 2011

    Deborah Doyle rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely awesome, I tried a small one 1st (one layer) as I've never made a pavlova before, then I tried this & it's awesome!

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  • 07 April 2012

    Alison rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is a foolproof recipe that I have made 5 times to great acclaim. The last time I attempted a meringue was at school 33 years ago so I'm no expert - every time this recipe has been stunning with fantastic comments from my friends!

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 12 - 14

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

plus cooling

Ingredients

  • 9 large egg whites
  • 600g caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 1 tbsp white wine or malt vinegar

TO ASSEMBLE AND SERVE

  • 400ml double cream
  • 75g icing sugar , plus extra to dust
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 250g mixed berries , plus a handful extra for the top
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PER SERVING (12)

413 kcalories, protein 3.0g, carbohydrate 63.0g, fat 18.0 g, saturated fat 10.0g, fibre 1.0g, sugar 62.0g, salt 0.17 g

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