Description
These Mini Pavlova Christmas Trees are a festive and elegant dessert perfect for holiday celebrations. Crispy on the outside and soft inside, the delicate meringue trees are piped to resemble Christmas trees, topped with whipped cream, silver cachous, fresh raspberries, and pistachio crumbs for a delightful combination of texture and flavor.
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 and Toppings
- 1/4 cup Sunbeam Australian pistachios
- 300ml thickened cream
- 1 tsp pure icing sugar
- 1 tsp rosewater
- Silver cachous
- Fresh raspberries
- Freeze-dried raspberry powder
- Strawberries, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare trays: Preheat your oven to 100°C fan-forced (120°C conventional). Grease two large oven trays, then place two baking paper sheets on them. On each sheet, mark four 4.5 cm circles spaced apart and turn the sheets over so the marks face down on the trays.
- Make the meringue base: Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the caster sugar, one tablespoon at a time, ensuring it dissolves before the next addition. Incorporate the vinegar and cornflour, then beat until the mixture is glossy and well combined.
- Pipe meringue shapes: Spoon a quarter of the meringue mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1 cm plain nozzle. Pipe small mounds onto the circles marked on the trays. Then, transfer the remaining meringue into another piping bag with a 0.5 cm fluted nozzle. Beginning at the base of each mound, pipe three rows of small vertical layers around to form a tree shape.
- Bake the meringue: Bake the meringue trees in the preheated oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until the edges are crisp without any coloration. Once baked, turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool inside with the door slightly ajar to prevent cracking.
- Prepare pistachio crumbs: Place the pistachios in a small food processor and pulse until they become fine crumbs to use as garnish.
- Whip the cream: With an electric mixer, beat the thickened cream, icing sugar, and rosewater to just firm peaks. Put a quarter of the whipped cream into a piping bag with a small plain nozzle.
- Decorate the meringue trees: Pipe small cream rounds onto each meringue tree to act as an adhesive for the silver cachous. Decorate with silver cachous, fresh raspberries, and sprinkle freeze-dried raspberry powder and pistachio crumbs over the top.
- Serve: Present the meringue trees with fresh strawberries and the remaining whipped cream alongside for a beautiful and festive dessert.
Notes
- Make sure egg whites are at room temperature before beating for best volume and stability.
- Gradually adding sugar helps dissolve it completely, ensuring smooth meringue.
- Cooling the meringues in the oven with the door ajar helps prevent cracking by allowing gentle drying.
- You can substitute rosewater with vanilla extract if preferred.
- Use piping bags fitted with the correct nozzles for the best shaping effect.
- Store any leftover meringues in an airtight container to keep them crisp.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Pavlova Tree
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 20g
- Sodium: 15mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
