Description
Mini Pavlova Christmas Trees are a festive and elegant dessert perfect for holiday celebrations. These delicate meringue trees are baked to crisp perfection, decorated with whipped cream, pistachio crumbs, silver cachous, and fresh raspberries, making them a visually stunning and delicious treat that serves eight.
Ingredients
Scale
Meringue
- 6 free-range egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 3 tsp cornflour
Decoration
- 1/4 cup Sunbeam Australian Pistachios
- 300 ml thickened cream
- 1 tsp pure icing sugar
- 1 tsp rosewater
- Silver cachous, to serve
- Raspberries, to serve
- Freeze-dried raspberry powder, to serve
- Strawberries, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: Preheat your oven to 100°C fan-forced (120°C conventional) and grease two large oven trays. On two sheets of baking paper, mark four 4.5 cm circles, ensuring space between each. Place the sheets marked side down onto the prepared trays.
- Beat Meringue: Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the caster sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating until the sugar dissolves after each addition. Then add white vinegar and cornflour and beat until the mixture is glossy and combined.
- Pipe Meringue Trees: Transfer a quarter of the meringue mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1 cm plain nozzle. Pipe small mounds onto the trays using the circles as guides. Put the remaining meringue into a piping bag fitted with a 0.5 cm fluted nozzle and pipe three rows of small vertical layers around each mound, constructing a tree shape.
- Bake Meringues: Bake the meringues for 50 minutes to 1 hour until the edges are crisp but not colored. After baking, turn off the oven and cool the meringues inside the oven with the door ajar to set.
- Prepare Pistachio Crumbs: Pulse the pistachios in a small food processor until they become fine crumbs, ready for garnishing.
- Whip Cream: Beat thickened cream, icing sugar, and rosewater with an electric mixer until just-firm peaks form. Place a quarter of the whipped cream into a piping bag with a small plain nozzle.
- Decorate Trees: Pipe small rounds of cream onto the meringue trees to act as glue for decorations. Decorate the trees with silver cachous, raspberries, and freeze-dried raspberry powder. Sprinkle with the pistachio crumbs and serve with fresh strawberries and the remaining whipped cream.
Notes
- Ensure egg whites are at room temperature for better volume when whipped.
- Be patient when adding the sugar gradually to dissolve it completely and avoid grainy meringue.
- Cooling the meringue in the oven helps prevent cracking and ensures crisp texture.
- You can replace rosewater with vanilla extract if preferred.
- Store leftover meringues in an airtight container to maintain crispness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mini pavlova tree
- Calories: 210 kcal
- Sugar: 25 g
- Sodium: 15 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg
