Crunchy on the outside with soft, melt-in-your-mouth insides, this mini pavlova recipe with lemon curd filling and cream cheese frosting is a perfect dessert that’s not only delicious but also amazingly good looking!
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Ingredients you will need
For the meringue
Egg whites – We will heat the egg whites over a double boiler, so you don’t need to bring them to room temperature in advance.
Sugar – Use granulated sugar.
Salt – This dessert is very sweet, so a generous pinch of salt is necessary not only to make the meringue more stable but also to balance its flavor.
Corn starch – It helps our dessert stay soft inside, as it should. However, you can skip this ingredient if you want your pavlova dessert to be more on the crispy side. Regardless of whether you use corn starch, this dessert is suitable for those who follow a gluten-free diet.
Lemon juice – Adding lemon at the very end when making meringue helps to stabilize the mixture.
For the lemon curd
Egg yolks – Use the yolks that are left from separating the egg whites. These mini pavlovas are waste free!
Lemon - Use lemon juice as well as lemon zest (I use one extremely large lemon). You can strain lemon zest after you’ve finished cooking the curd, but you don't have to do so if you don't want to.
Sugar - Use granulated sugar. You can adjust the amount, but keep in mind that meringue is extremely sweet. That means you want the curd to be sour to balance the sweetness.
Corn starch - It makes the filling thicker and more stable, as well as prevents the meringue becoming soft too fast.
For the cream
Cream cheese - You can also use mascarpone cheese instead.
Heavy whipping cream - Should be very cold to whip up well.
Powdered sugar - Same as with the lemon curd: we don't want the cream to be very sweet, so 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar are more than enough here.
Vanilla extract - Optional, but I like to add some.
Cooking tips
Use a digital kitchen scale. The perfect meringue is achieved by using a 2:1 sugar to egg whites ratio. Without a kitchen scale, your will never know if this ratio had been achieved. As a result, your meringues are more likely to crack during baking.
Make the filling and frosting in advance. These two can be made a day before and wait in the fridge. Make sure that your curd is covered with plastic wrap and your cream is waiting in an uncut piping bag.
Whip to stiff peaks. I can't tell you how much time it will take for you to whip the meringue, as it really depends on how powerful your mixer is. With a stand mixer, it takes around 8 minutes. With a hand mixer, it can take up to 12 minutes of whipping. That's why you should always keep an eye on consistency. The meringue should be very shiny, very thick, and should keep the shape you give to it.
Add some color. You can use a gel or powder food coloring for your meringue but be careful if you use gel. Gel is a water-based coloring and water changes the texture of the meringue – add too much and your dessert will be ruined! So, add as little as possible or use powdered food coloring to add any moisture.
Don't hurry the process. There's no need to set the oven higher than 195F or 90C. High temperatures can lead to cracking and burned meringue. We actually don't need to bake our meringue nests – we need to dry them out, slowly! So take your time and make cream and filling while you wait for them to finish baking.
Cool down slowly. It's only 195F or 90C inside the oven, so it won't take that long to cool our pavlovas. However, don't rush! Let your meringue nests dry out even more while cooling down.
Why use the Swiss meringue method?
This recipe can be made with French meringue as well. You don't have to change ingredients or their amounts. However, I think that the Swiss method is better and I have several reasons to think so.
Swiss meringue is easy to make. Unlike Italian meringue, where you need to cook a sugar syrup and there are things that can go wrong, Swiss meringue is easy to make. All you need is to dissolve sugar in the egg whites under a gentle heat. You don't even need a thermometer. You can always check if the mixture is ready by rubbing it between your fingers. If it's warm and you can't feel any sugar crystals, it's ready to be whipped.
Swiss meringue is stable. That's why this recipe is so good for beginners: because you dissolve all the sugar and heat the egg whites while evaporating some water, the structure becomes more stable and less likely to crack during baking. So if you want to make these easy mini pavlovas for the first time, the Swiss meringue method is what you need.
Step by step directions
For the meringues
1. Preheat the oven to 195F or 90C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place the egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl and place the bowl over a saucepan with slightly simmering water (double boiler). Heat the mixture, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved. To check, rub a little bit of the mixture between two fingers. If you don’t feel sugar crystals, it’s ready to be whipped.
3. Add salt and whip, gradually increasing the speed from medium-low to high in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until stiff peaks form.
4. When done, add the lemon juice and sift in the corn starch. Whip on low to incorporate.
5. Place the mixture into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle (such as Wilton 6B, 8B, or Ateco 827) and pipe 10 2.5" – 3" or 6-7cm wide mini pavlova nests onto parchment paper, leaving 1" in between.
6. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake our mini pavlova nests for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Then turn off the oven, crack open the door, and let the meringues cool down to room temperature like that.
For the lemon curd
1. In a saucepan, add all the ingredients except the butter.
2. Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously until the mixture starts simmering and thickens.
3. Remove from the heat and add the butter. Mix until it melts and has incorporated.
4. Then, cover with plastic wrap so it touches the mixture and refrigerate until cold.
For the cream
1. Place all the ingredients into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip on medium-high until stiff peaks form.
2. Place into a piping bag equipped with your favorite piping nozzle and use right away or refrigerate in the bag until it’s time for assembly.
Assembling mini pavlova nests
1. Fill the meringue nests with lemon curd (2-3 teaspoon per nest).
2. Pipe the frosting on top as you would do on cupcakes.
3. Decorate with fresh berries and serve right away.
Flavor variations
Whipped cream - If you want this dessert to be even lighter, make a homemade whipped cream frosting sweetened with powdered sugar (2 tablespoons is enough).
Chocolate - I prefer to use something sour or fresh as a filling because the meringue is very sweet. However, if you have an incredibly sweet tooth, make this Chocolate ganache to replace the lemon curd.
More berries - Instead of making a mini pavlova with lemon curd, make it with a berry sauce. You can make my Raspberry coulis recipe (thickened with corn starch) to add even more berries to the dessert.
FAQ
No, you can't freeze it.
Store it in a plastic cake box in the fridge for up to 2 days. However, it's recommended to serve the dessert on the same day you make it, as it becomes soft from being stored in the fridge.
You can make it ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to 4 days.
Made with corn starch, it will last for up to 3 days in the fridge.
More dessert recipes
Easy homemade chocolate truffles
Recipe card
Mini pavlova
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Stand mixer
- Saucepan
- Piping nozzle Wilton 6B, 8B, or Ateco 827
- 2 Piping bags
Ingredients
For the meringue
- 3 egg whites of large eggs 100g, can be cold
- 200 g granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 15 g cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
For the lemon curd
- 3 egg yolks can be cold
- 40 g granulated sugar
- 55 g lemon juice + lemon zest
- 55 g unsalted butter
- 5 g cornstarch
For the cream
- 150 g cream cheese cold
- 150 g heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
For the meringues
- Preheat the oven to 195F or 90C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl and place the bowl over a saucepan with slightly simmering water (double boiler). Make sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Heat the mixture, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved. To check, rub a little bit of the mixture between two fingers. If you don’t feel sugar crystals, it’s ready to be whipped.
- Add salt and whip, gradually increasing the speed from medium-low to high in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer) until stiff peaks form. The meringue should be shiny, thick, and hold its shape well.
- When done, add the lemon juice and sift in the corn starch. Whip on low to incorporate. You can also fold with a rubber spatula instead.
- Place the mixture into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle (such as Wilton 6B, 8B, or Ateco 827) and pipe 10 2.5" – 3" or 6-7cm wide nests onto parchment paper, leaving 1" in between.
- Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake our mini pavlova nests for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Then, turn off the oven, crack open the door, and let the meringues cool down to room temperature like that. The parchment paper should peel off the pavlovas easily.
For the lemon curd
- In a saucepan, add all the ingredients except the butter.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously until the mixture starts simmering and thickens.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter. Mix until it has melted and incorporated.
- Then, cover with plastic wrap (making sure it touches the mixture) and refrigerate until cold.
For the cream
- Place all the ingredients into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a bowl and a hand mixer) and whip on medium-high until stiff peaks form.
- Place into a piping bag equipped with your favorite piping nozzle (I use Ateco 846) and use right away or refrigerate in the bag until it’s time for assembly.
Assembling
- Fill the meringue nests with lemon curd (2-3 teaspoon per nest).
- Pipe the frosting on top as you would do on cupcakes.
- Decorate with fresh berries and serve right away.
Alex
First time I made pavlova and it didn’t crack in the oven.
Anna
Amazing!