This cranberry pavlova is the perfect festive dessert for your holiday table. I have all the tips and tricks to help you make it a success. 
Christmas dessert has to be something pretty and festive. But not something you have to spend days to prepare.
This Chrismas pavlova flavored with cranberries will surely impress your guests.
The cranberry sauce and sugared cranberries can be prepared days in advance. And they can be used in many other recipes.
A good pavlova needs some beautiful colors. Cranberries are in season and perfect for balancing the sweetness of the meringue.
But you can also use whatever fruit you like. Berries, kiwis, and mangos are my favorites.
To make this cranberry pavlova a success, the tricky part is to get meringue right.
There are a few things to pay attention to:
-
When you separate egg whites, make sure there is no trace of any yolk in the whites, otherwise, it won’t whip up. Make sure your mixing bowl is oil-free too!
My advice is to separate eggs (white from yolks) one by one in a small bowl, before adding each egg white to the final mixing bowl for whipping, so if one of the egg whites gets yolk it won’t ruin the whole batch.
2. Whip the egg white to the right consistency, means, stiff peak but not dry.
It should glossy and smooth. You can tip the bowl over and no meringue will fall out, that means it’s ready.
3. Bake low and slow. We bake it at 200ºF for an hour and a half, then let it rest at least another hour with the oven turned off and the door popped open.
You basically want to dry out the meringue instead of baking it.
The baked meringue should still be cream color, NOT LIGHT BROWN.
The outside should be solid but inside can be soft like marshmallows.
Cranberry pavlova troubleshooting and tips:
Can I use frozen egg whites that have been defrosted?
Yes. You can.
I actually freeze egg whites quite often since a lot of recipes call for only yolks. I freeze egg whites individually in an icecube tray (for large ice cubes), or silicon muffin tins, then transfer them to a Ziploc in the freezer. Just thaw the number of egg whites you need each time. For safety reason, it’s better to defrost the egg whites in the refrigerator. It can take 4-8 hours to defrost 4 egg whites so keep that in mind when planning. Previously frozen egg whites can even be used for making macarons (I’ve done it many times).
Do I need to add cream of tartar to the meringue?
The theory is adding acids like cream of tartar or lemon juice to egg whites can increase the volume of meringue. It may be true but without any, you can still have a good meringue. I’ve tried with and without cream of tartar, the difference is really not so obvious. That’s why cream of tartar is not on the ingredient list.
My baked meringue has cracked. What to do?
Don’t panic. If it’s just cracked (not crumbled), just cover it with whipped cream and nobody will notice it.
Meringue by nature is fragile, so everyone can crack it by accident, it doesn’t mean it’s a failure.
But if it crumbled, especially when the baked meringue is in yellowish or light brown color, that means the meringue is over-baked.
A large piece of meringue, like this one, is easier to crack and needed to be handled with care. If you want to totally avoid cracking, you can make individual sized pavlovas and they will be equally impressive.
My pavlova is melting.
The meringue is probably not baked enough. Or the cream has been sit on it for a long time, so the humidity has soaked through.
To avoid this, 1)Bake the meringue according to instructions.
2) Assemble the pavlova no more than 1 day before serving.
3) Do not put it in the refrigerator. Humidity in the refrigerator will make meringue soggy.
Is there a way to save failed pavlova?
If with all the good intention but your pavlova is still failed. There a few ways to use them for a decent dessert:
1) Fill individual serving glass/mason jar with greek yogurt, top it with failed pavlova and some fruit pieces.
2) Serve pavlova on top of a hot jag of coffee like a float.
3) Make some crepes and use pavlova as toppings.
This cranberry pavlova is simple yet eye-catching.
The tart cranberry topping is great to balance the sweetness of the meringue.
Serve small postions, and enjoy with moderation.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
Qi
Cranberry Pavlova
Ingredients
For the sugared cranberries:
6oz fresh cranberries
1 cup simple syrup (1 part sugar 1 part water)
Additional sugar to roll the cranberries in.
For the meringue:
4 eggs whites
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
For the cranberry coulis:
6oz fresh cranberries
the leftover simple syrup after soak the other half of the cranberries to make sugared cranberries.
1 sprig rosemary
2 tbsp lemon juice
For the whipped cream:
1 cup cold heavy cream
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
2 tbsp of icing sugar
Instructions
For the sugared cranberries:
- melt 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar in 1/2 cup of water, let it cool slightly and pour this simple syrup over the cranberries, let them sit in the fridge overnight.
- using a slotted spoon, take out the cranberries and put them on a cooling rack, let them dry an hour or until their surface becomes tacky.
- Put granulated sugar in a big bowl and roll cranberries in the sugar until they are well coated.
For the meringue:
- heat the oven to 350Fº
- put all the sugar in the egg white (yes, dump it all in, no need to add one tbsp at a time like some recipes said), whip until stiff peak form, but not yet a dry meringue. The sure way to do this is to whip the meringue until soft peak, then hand whip until it holds its shape.
- add the lemon juice and cornstarch to the meringue and fold them in gently until well combined.
- on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Shape the meringue into an 8-inch disk, with the edges a little bit higher than the center, like a pizza, so it can hold the whipped cream later.
- lower the oven to 200Fº, bake for 1.5 hours. Turn the oven off, pop the door open with a wooden spoon. Let the meringue cool in the oven until 1 hour before you are ready to whip the cream. It can be left in the oven overnight (in this case, keep the oven door closed).
- one hour before you want to assemble the Pavlova, take the meringue out of the oven and let it cool completely. It should be dry to touch at the end.
For the cranberry coulis:
Cook cranberries and 1 sprig of rosemary in the leftover simple syrup from making sugared cranberries until all the berries are popped, add the lemon juice. Use a stick blender blend the mixture until smooth. Let it cool completely before mixing with the whipped cream.
For the whipped cream:
- put all ingredients in the box of a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer), whip the cream until soft peak form.
- add the cranberry coulis to half of the cream and marble it.
Assemble the Pavlova:
- peel the parchment paper gentle away from the meringue and put it on your serving plate. In case it cracks, uses some whipped cream to stick pieces together.
- layer half of the plain whipped cream on top of the meringue, then add the second layer with marbled whipped cream.
- top with sugared cranberries and some fresh rosemaries for decoration.
- pavlova tastes the best on the day it is assembled.
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