You can make it with whatever kind of berries you want…strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries…or a mixture of two or more. Kemal and I love it with any kind of berry or berry mixture, but raspberry pavlova is our personal favorite.
Anyway, before I tell you how to make it, I want to tell you a little story about my adventures in making pavlova this summer.
The first time I made it, I made two mistakes. First, I used the wrong sized pan. This was a critical mistake because it made my roulade cake too thick so it didn’t bake properly. The second mistake I made the first time I made this was I set my oven at the wrong temperature. It was set way too low because I was using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. Oops!
I ended up being able to salvage the cake by cooking it longer and turning the oven temperature up. It tasted great, but I wasn’t able to roll the cake nor did it look very pretty. No matter…we all enjoyed it nonetheless.
The second time I made pavlova, I baked it too long so it broke apart as I was rolling it. Oopsie! But again, I salvaged it by crumbling the meringue cake and putting the pieces in the bottom of a parfait glass. Then I layered the parfait with raspberries, whipped cream, strawberry puree, and a strawberry on top. It all worked out fine and tasted great!!! (See the very last picture of this post.)
But the thing is, I wanted to make a roulade cake, and I still hadn’t succeeded. I figured the third time’s the charm, and I was determined to succeed. And I did!! YAY!!! Here’s a picture so you can see my pavlova roulade cake.
Anyway, after making pavlova three times this summer, I can tell you that I still haven’t had enough. It’s become my favorite dessert of all time!!! It’s absolutely divine!!! Try making a pavlova roulade cake or pavlova parfait and see for yourself.
Strawberry and Raspberry Pavlova…Made Two Ways…As a Roulade Cake or a Parfait
Adapted from: Antony Worrall Thompson and Achtung Baby!
Equipment needed: blender, electric mixer, large stainless steel bowl, and a 11 x 17 inch jelly roll pan
Here’s some pictures of Kemal rolling the roulade, and you’ll start rolling on the widest side of the cake, using the paper to help you. Here’s a picture of Kemal demonstrating this step.
- Now that your roulade cake is partially rolled, let the parchment paper rest on the counter while you press down the top edge of the roulade cake like this:
- Now you need to roll the roulade cake a little more, so grab the parchment paper and roll some more:
- Then take the part of the parchment paper that’s covering the cake and pull it back on the counter. At this point, Kemal removed the tape that was connecting both pieces of parchment paper on the counter, and then he started rolling the cake some more
until it’s completely rolled.
When you’re done rolling, take the part of the parchment paper that’s covering the cake and pull it back. And now you’re done rolling! You can see our roulade cake had a few holes, but we put that side on the bottom so they didn’t show.
The next step is to transfer the roulade cake from the parchment paper on your counter to your serving dish. To do this, you need to hold the parchment paper on both sides, lift it up, and then slide the cake right off the paper onto the serving dish. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of Kemal doing this step, but Chef Antony Worrall Thompson demonstrates it in his video toward the end at the 7:45 mark.
Once the cake is on the serving dish, sprinkle it generously with powdered sugar. Here’s how mine looked:
Then decorate the top with some fresh fruit.
Then chill it. When you get ready to serve it, slice it, placing an individual slice on a serving plate. Then take a spoon and place some of the berry puree sauce onto the plate around the pavlova.
Or, you can drizzle some on top if you prefer.
How to make a pavlova parfait instead of a roulade cake:
- Follow all the steps for baking the roulade cake except instead of baking it for 15 minutes, bake it for 25 minutes. This will make the meringue crunchier on the outside, and this is actually how I prefer my meringue…crunchy on the outside yet soft on the inside. But baking it this long makes it impossible to roll. That’s okay though because if you want to make a parfait instead of a roloude cake, you don’t need to roll it.
- After the meringue is done baking, let it cool.
- Then remove the crunchy meringue from the parchment paper. It’s going to crumble off and be in a lot of small pieces. That’s okay…that’s what you want.
- Then press some of the meringue pieces of the cake in the bottom of a parfait glass.
- Next, spread some jam on top of the crumbled meringue cake.
- Now add whipped cream on top of that.
- Then place some berries on top of the cream.
- Use a spoon to drizzle some berry puree on top of the cream.
- If you like, add a sliced berry on top.
- Chill and enjoy!
Here’s a picture of my mixed raspberry/strawberry parfait. The raspberries are on the bottom, and it’s drizzled with a strawberry puree:
Doesn’t that look scrumptious!! It’s also easier to make than a roulade cake.
Whichever way you make your pavlova, enjoy every bite!
