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EveryCow

Milk sweets

Pavlova

Crisp meringue with a soft centre, crowned with whipped cream and fresh fruit for summer Christmas.

Pavlova is a large meringue with a crisp shell and a soft, marshmallow centre, topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit such as kiwifruit, passionfruit and berries. Named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s, it is the dessert of Christmas, which falls in the southern summer, and of summer gatherings.

What goes in

Egg whites: 20%20%Sugar: 27%27%Cream: 27%27%Fresh fruit: 20%20%Vinegar and cornflour: 7%5parts
  • Egg whites320%, Whisked stiff.
  • Sugar427%, Added gradually.
  • Cream427%, Whipped and heaped on top.
  • Fresh fruit320%, Kiwifruit, passionfruit, berries.
  • Vinegar and cornflour17%, Give the soft centre.

Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each input's share of the product.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house and herd to herd; this is one traditional way, in outline.

  1. Step 1: Churn Whisk egg whites stiff and beat in sugar a spoonful at a time.
  2. Step 2: Shape Fold in vinegar and cornflour and shape into a round.
  3. Step 3: Dry Bake slowly and leave to cool in the oven.
  4. Step 4: Churn Whip cream until soft peaks form.
  5. Step 5: Serve Heap the cream on top, add fruit and serve.
  6. Egg whites: 20%20%Sugar: 27%27%Cream: 27%27%Fresh fruit: 20%20%Vinegar and cornflour: 7%
    Finished Pavlova, by share.

An old argument

New Zealand and Australia both claim the pavlova. Recipes under the name appeared in New Zealand in the late 1920s and in Australia soon after, and research has found earlier layered meringue cakes in both countries and elsewhere. The argument is a friendly and lasting one, and food historians have written whole books on the question.

Cream on top

The meringue is made from egg whites and sugar with a little vinegar and cornflour for the soft centre, baked slowly and left to cool in the oven. Just before serving it is heaped with whipped cream, which softens the top. Both countries' pasture dairies supply cream in abundance in summer.

Where it is used

Christmas dessertSummer gatherings

The breeds behind it

Holstein FriesianThe bulk of the Australasian dairy herd.

Also part of it, and being written: Jersey cattle (High-fat milk for cream on New Zealand farms.), Illawarra Shorthorn (Australian dairy breed.).

More on EveryCow

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Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and dairy makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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