Easy Gingerbread Pavlova Recipe

Looking for something different than a traditional Gingerbread during the holiday season? This easy Gingerbread Pavlova recipe would be just the one! Spiced meringue is topped with mandarins, gingerbread snowflake cookies and caramel trees.

How does your house smell during the holiday season? Scents of the Gingerbread and a Christmas tree are the best indications of the festive season each year.

I personally have an additional aroma that is associated with Christmas and New Year holiday. It is the citrus, but to be precise, it is mandarins.

It goes back to my childhood when Moroccan mandarins annually went on sale in Russia during the holiday season. They always were a festive sign for me that the holidays was coming. 

Mandarins have a special treatment in Chinese culture. The Chinese word for mandarin—kam—sounds similar to the word for “gold.” It means having mandarins in your home at New Year is considered to bring riches into your life.

That is why I teamed up with Gingerbread and mandarins to create this easy Gingerbread Pavlova recipe to celebrate the New Year holiday. Make it for Christmas too or follow it up with this stunning and unforgettable dessert. 

Why Easy Gingerbread Pavlova Recipe Works

• Pavlova can be made all year round, and this cake is a traditional Australian Christmas dessert.
• This spicy Pavlova is great alternative to traditional Gingerbread desserts.
• Warm spices bring an unbeatable flavor and festive spirit.
• Fresh citrus topping beautifully marries with spicy ginger and other fragrant spices.
• Making the meringue, gingerbread cookies and caramel tree decorations one day in advance is a time saver during a busy holiday time.

How to Make Easy Gingerbread Pavlova – Step by Step Recipe

Preheat oven to 230 F/110 C. Line a baking sheet with the parchment paper * and draw a circle 8 inches/20 cm in diameter with a pencil. Turn the parchment over so that the pencil line is facing down.

To make the meringue, with an electric mixer * or a stand mixer *, whisk egg whites and salt together until soft peaks form. Whisk in caster sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and glossy. Add white wine vinegar and corn starch and beat a few more seconds (photo 1).

Use a large metal spoon to mound the meringue on a baking sheet. With a flour sifter *, sprinkle spices over the meringue (photo 2)…

and create a meringue dome, using a bent spatula * (photo 3). Bake at 230 F/110 C for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 210 F/100 C. Bake for an additional 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the meringue in the oven, with the door closed, for 3 to 4 hours (better overnight) until cooled completely (photo 4).

To make caramel tree decorations, prepare the parchment paper *. Bring sugar and water in a saucepan over low to medium heat and cook, without stirring, for 12 to 13 minutes or until golden color. Set aside for 2 minutes or until the caramel begins to thicken slightly (photo 5). Use a spoon to carefully drizzle the caramel to form tree shapes on the parchment. Set aside to cool and set (photo 6).

To make the topping, peel mandarins, divide into segments, cut each segment in half and discard pips (photo 7).

To make the sticky sauce, peel 3 strips of zest from a mandarin. In a saucepan, combine zest strips, cinnamon stick, juices and syrup, and bring to a boil for about 6 minutes or until the syrup reduced to 1/3 cup (about 80 ml). Remove and discard zest strips and cinnamon. Set aside to cool (photo 8).

To make the whipped cream, beat whipping cream with an electric mixer *. While whisking, add mascarpone and sugar (photo 9).

To assemble the cake, place the meringue on a serving platter or a cake stand. Generously garnish it with the whipped cream, top with mandarins, gingerbread snowflake cookies and caramel tree/s (photo 10). 

Expert Tips to Make Gingerbread Pavlova

1. Bake the meringue dome a day in advance of serving, leave it in the closed oven and decorate it next day.
2. Make gingerbread snowflake cookies and caramel tree decorations one to two days in advance.
3. Top the meringue with the whipped cream and mandarins shortly before serving; otherwise, the meringue will soften and break down due the moisture of the whipped cream and syrupy fruit.
4. Make sure your mixing bowl and whisk are clean and free of grease.
5. Use separated egg whites at room temperature, helping them reach their maximum volume.
6. Experiment with spices in the meringue recipe, possibly increasing each of them up to one teaspoon.
7. Supreme oranges and replace mandarin pieces with the wedges of supremed oranges.
8. To make Gingerbread snowflake cookies, use this recipe of the Gingerbread Christmas Cookie Ornaments and snowflake cookie cutters.
9. Decorate the cake with store bought Gingerbread cookies. Crumble cookies if you prefer.

More Christmas Dessert Recipes You’ll Love

• Spiced Gingerbread Loaf Recipe
• German Cinnamon Star Cookies – Zimsterne
• Traditional Buche de Noel (Yule Log)
• Browse all the Christmas Recipes

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Easy Gingerbread Pavlova Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 13 reviews

• Author: Irina | Baking Like a Chef
• Yield: 8 1x
• Category: Cakes
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Australian

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Description

Looking for something different than a traditional Gingerbread during the holiday season? This easy Gingerbread Pavlova recipe would be just the one! Spiced meringue is topped with mandarins, gingerbread snowflake cookies and caramel trees.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

For the meringue:

• 6 egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups (330 g) caster sugar
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground clove
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

For the whipped cream:

• 10.1 fl oz (300 ml) whipping cream
• 1.8 oz (50 g) mascarpone
• 1 tbsp (15 g) caster sugar

For caramel tree decorations:

• 1/3 cup (75 g) caster sugar
• 1 fl oz (30 ml) water

For the topping:

• 3 mandarins
• gingerbread snowflake cookies (optional)

For the sticky sauce:

• 3 mandarin zest strips
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) orange juice
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 230 F/110 C. Line a baking sheet with the parchment paper * and draw a circle 8 inches/20 cm in diameter with a pencil. Turn the parchment over so that the pencil line is facing down.
2. To make the meringue, with an electric mixer * or a stand mixer *, whisk egg whites and salt together until soft peaks form. Whisk in caster sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and glossy. Add white wine vinegar and corn starch, and beat a few more seconds. 
3. Use a large metal spoon to mound the meringue on a baking sheet. With a flour sifter *, sprinkle spices over the meringue and create a meringue dome, using a bent spatula *. Bake at 230 F/110 C for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 210 F/100 C. Bake for an additional 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the meringue in the oven, with the door closed, for 3 to 4 hours (better overnight) until cooled completely.
4. To make caramel tree decorations, prepare the parchment paper *. Bring sugar and water in a saucepan over low to medium heat and cook, without stirring, for 12 to 13 minutes or until golden color. Set aside for 2 minutes or until the caramel begins to thicken slightly. Use a spoon to carefully drizzle the caramel to form tree shapes on the parchment. Set aside to cool and set.
5. To make the topping, peel mandarins, divide into segments, cut each segment in half and discard pips.
6. To make the sticky sauce, peel 3 strips of zest from a mandarin. In a saucepan, combine zest strips, cinnamon stick, juices and syrup, and bring to a boil for a bout 6 minutes or until the syrup reduced to 1/3 cup. Remove and discard zest strips and cinnamon. Set aside to cool.
7. To make the whipped cream, beat whipping cream with an electric mixer. While whisking, add mascarpone and sugar. 
8. To assemble the cake, place the meringue on a serving platter or a cake stand. Generously garnish it with the whipped cream, top with mandarins, gingerbread snowflake cookies, and caramel tree/s. 

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Notes

1. Bake the meringue dome a day in advance of serving, leave it in the closed oven and decorate it next day.
2. Make gingerbread snowflake cookies and caramel tree decorations one to two days in advance.
3. Top the meringue with the whipped cream and mandarins shortly before serving; otherwise, the meringue will soften and break down due the moisture of the whipped cream and syrupy fruit.
4. Make sure a mixing bowl and whisk are clean and free of grease.
5. Use separated egg whites at room temperature that helps reach their maximum volume. 
6. Experiment with spices in the meringue recipe increasing each of them till one teaspoon.
7. Supreme oranges and replace mandarin pieces with the wedges of supremed oranges.
8. To make Gingerbread snowflake cookies, use this recipe of the Gingerbread Christmas Cookie Ornaments and snowflake cookie cutters *.
9. Decorate the cake with store bought Gingerbread cookies. Crumble cookies if you prefer.

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Nutrition

• Calories: 338
• Sugar: 49 g
• Sodium: 72 mg
• Fat: 12.8 g
• Saturated Fat: 8 g
• Carbohydrates: 55.1 g
• Fiber: 0.8 g
• Protein: 4.6 g
• Cholesterol: 45 mg

Keywords: easy Pavlova recipe, Australian Pavlova, Christmas Pavlova, Gingerbread Pavlova, citrus Pavlova