This Easter Meringue recipe is the perfect Easter treat. The gorgeous meringue is light, it is topped with a fluffy vanilla cream layer and then decorated with chocolate eggs to add that gorgeous Easter flavour and look. Of course, I had to make this a mini eggs pavlova recipe. Their beautiful colour is too good to pass up for anything Easter baking I think.
An Easter pavlova is the perfect thing to serve for an Easter party or as a perfect centrepiece for the Easter table. This Easter egg pavlova is easy to make and perfect to make with the children too. Especially when giving them the job to decorate. My easy meringue recipe can be made ahead of time and the vanilla cream added along with the decorations when needed.
This easy Easter meringue will be your new family favourite Easter dessert. It is so easy to make plus it has the added bonus of the main meringue part being able to be made a few days or weeks before you need to eat it.
For the creamy topping I have added vanilla bean paste to the mix to get it a really fresh and elegant taste. I love vanilla and using good vanilla for something like this where it will be the centre flavour is so worth it.
Mini egg pavlova I think has to my favourite of all the pavlovas I have made. There is something absolutely delicious about the meringue, soft cream and chocolate eggs which work so well to make this Easter Pavlova.
What can I serve with the Easter Meringue?
There are so many yummy things you can serve with the Easter meringue. From fruits, to coolies, sauces and even ice cream.
Here are my top Easter Meringue serving suggestions
- strawberries
- passion fruit
- raspberries
- fruit coolies (raspberry works really well)
- toffee sauce
- chocolate sauce or molten chocolate
- ice cream
- crumbled up chocolate (flake chocolate bar is brilliantly crumbly for this)
How to make pavlova
THE EGG WHITES
Pavlova is such a brilliant thing to make and although it looks complicated you can’t really mess it up too much. There might be breaks but who really minds that! You add the cream and the topping and no one will be non the wiser.
To make pavlova you need to use eggs whites. Eggs whites are the main ingredient you will need to make the meringue. You can either use fresh eggs and separate the egg yolk and egg white your self.
Be careful as you need to make sure the yolk doesn’t end up the white. If it mixes, the egg white will have a harder and longer time when it’s being whipped up.
If you aren’t comfortable separating eggs at home, you can buy pre-separated egg whites in the supermarket. It’s usually near the milk/dairy. I’ve used the Happy Egg version and the Two Chicks version. Both were great!
This way makes it super easy to make, plus if you need to make a lot it will help with having leftover egg yolks and knowing what to use them for.
OTHER INGREDIENTS FOR THE MERINGUE
With the main ingredient sorted you will also need caster sugar. This adds sweetness to the meringue but most importantly keeps the structure stable and stops the egg white drying out so fast in the oven.
A way to make the meringue work even better is to add a small mix of cornflour and white wine vinegar. It’s only a little amount so it doesn’t effect the taste but it really helps the shine of the meringue. The cornflour helps create that lovely marshmallow type centre. While the white wine vinegar changes the texture slightly to give it that delicious crunch.
What is the trick to making meringue
The trick to making meringue is using a clean and dry bowl as well as a clean and dry whisk. If these are both dry you will find it so much easier to make a delicious meringue at home for any occasion. If there is any grease left on the items this can slow down the process and even alter it completely.
Another trick is to take your time. I’ve found the best results have come from taking my time and letting the egg white whisk up on a medium speed. The finished bake has been better and it also took the stress of making a dessert away.
Adding mini eggs means that the mini egg pavlova is so easy to make and quick to decorate. While also looking so cute!
Why do you add vinegar to Pavlova? Do you need it?
White wine vinegar is a brilliant way of taking your meringues to the next level. I would say you do need white wine vinegar for a pavlova. Adding a tiny amount will not make the pavlova smell like vinegar but it will give the finished meringue a beautiful texture and help it set with a marshmallow type centre.
You can make a basic ready to decorate Pavlova without white wine vinegar by just using egg whites and sugar but adding the white wine vinegar and cornflour adds something to make them extra special and it’s worth taking the extra minute to add in.
Easter Merignue Nests
I love how this Easter pavlova looks like an Easter meringue nest. This is one large Easter meringue to share but if you prefer you can make mini little nests by doing spoonfuls of meringue on to the baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Push a spoon in to the spoonful of meringue to make the trench to hold the cream and cook.
These Easter meringue nests are so cute and great for Easter parties and events. I love the idea of having a Easter egg hunt and allowing the kids and big kids to use what they find to decorate their meringues which would be ready to decorate.
If you want to make a dramatic chocolate Easter nest, try making the white chocolate Easter cake, it’s decorated with a gorgeous chocolate easter nest made from melted milk chocolate and shredded wheat.
How many people will this mini egg Easter Pavlova serve?
This delicious and absolutely tempting pavlova will serve 8-12 people depending on how big a portion you want to give them. Plus how generous you want to be of course! Even 12 servings will be a good portion size so you could divide it out even more.
Step by step – making the Easter Meringue
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Draw a circle on the paper – about 30cm in diameter.
Put the egg whites in a clean and dried mixing bowl.
Whisk with an electric whisk until the egg whites resemble soft peaks. Gradually add the caster sugar a little at a time.
Mix the white wine vinegar and cornflour in a cup until smooth.
Add the mix into the egg white mix to make it glossy.
Spoon the egg white meringue onto the circle drawn on the greaseproof paper in blobs.
Pull a dessert or serving spoon around the circle to make a shallow trench and link all the blobs of meringue together. (This will be for the cream and toppings to sit in).
Pop into the oven and reduce the temperature to 150ºC / 125ºC Fan / Gas 1 / 100ºF. Bake for 1 hour–1 hour 15 minutes, until the outside is hard but still white.
HOW TO MAKE THE CREAM LAYER
Add the double cream to a bowl.
Add in the vanilla paste (or vanilla extract).
Sieve in the icing sugar.
Whisk the mix until you have a thick mixture with stiff peaks. (You can do this with an electric whisk.)
Gently spoon the stiff cream into the trench in the meringue.
The Pavlova is now ready for you to decorate.
Can you make meringue ahead of time?
The great thing about meringues is that they last really well so can be made ahead of time for events, dinner parties and summer picnics. When you’ve made the meringue, allow the meringue to cool completely and gently put in an airtight box somewhere cool or in the freezer.
How long will the meringue last?
A meringue for the mini egg pavlova will last 2 weeks in an airtight box but you can also pop it in the freezer where it can last for months. Sadly my freezer isn’t big enough for this but if it was I would have filled it many times over! (Scroll down to the bottom of the page for my Easter Meringue recipe – the basic meringue is the same no matter what the topping).
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Other recipes you might like…
Want to make this Pavlova in the summer? Add some strawberries and make it an easy strawberry pavlova.
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Recipe
Easy Easter Meringue
Ingredients
- 6 (6) egg whites
- 350 g (1.75 cups) caster sugar
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) cornflour
- 600 ml (600 ml) double cream / heavy cream
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) vanilla bean paste
- 50 g (1.76 oz) icing sugar / confectioners sugar sifted
Instructions
Meringue
- Preheat the oven to 160ºC / 150ºC Fan / Gas 3 / 320ºF.
- Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Draw a circle on the paper – about 30cm in diameter.
- Put the egg whites in a clean and dried mixing bowl.
- Whisk with an electric whisk until the egg whites resemble soft peaks.
- Gradually add the caster sugar a little at a time. Make sure the whisk is on a medium to high speed until the mix starts to go stiff and glossy.
- Mix the white wine vinegar and cornflour in a cup until smooth.
- Add the mix into the egg white mix to make it glossy.
- Spoon the egg white meringue onto the circle drawn on the greaseproof paper in blobs.
- Pull a dessert or serving spoon around the circle to make a shallow trench and link all the blobs of meringue together. (This will be for the cream and toppings to sit in).
- Pop into the oven and reduce the temperature to 140ºC / 120ºC Fan / Gas 1 / 100ºF. Bake for 1 hour–1 hour 15 minutes, until the outside is hard but still white.
- Turn off the oven and leave the cooked pavlova inside the oven at least an hour or overnight to cool and dry.
Decoration
- To make the cream topping – Add the double cream to a bowl.
- Add in the vanilla paste (or vanila extract).
- Sieve in the icing sugar.
- Whisk the mix until you have a thick mixture with stiff peaks. (You can do this with electric whisk.)
- Gently spoon the stiff cream into the trench in the meringue.
- The Pavlova is now ready for you to decorate.
- Top with chocolate Easter eggs and anything else you would like (sprinkles are a great choice).
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Absolutely gorgeous. I adore pavlova and love the idea of an Easter one, especially one as pretty as this.
Anything with mini eggs is a winner for me! This pavlova looks absolutely beautiful, so perfect for an Easter spread.
Thank you Carrie x
That is so pretty!!! Of everything I can’t eat now I’d say meringue is one only 2 things I honestly desperately miss! And this lovely easter one looks perfect! #CookBlogShare
Oh I would miss it too!
What a beautifully decorated meringue, this looks delicious.
Thank you so much Lesley <3
Absolutely stunning dessert. Pavlova is one of my favourite desserts to make and I’ll definitely be putting this on my Easter table.
Thank you so much Janice. That is so kind <3
You had me at mini eggs, but then you added meringue and cream?! This might be my perfect dessert.
I’m glad I’m not alone in the love for this dessert.
This is so pretty and elegant – I LOVE IT! I have some Oggs egg white replacer so am going to go crazy and try this but make it egg free as I can’t have eggs. fingers crossed.
Oh I am glad you love it too. I hope the egg free version works and tastes delicious.
I followed the recipe exactly and mine (1.15hrs in oven + overnight) and mine was raw in the middle 🙁 Not sure what I did wrong but will experiment with either cooking it longer or making it ‘flatter’?
Hi Bill, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work for you. It might be a few factors. The oven might not be as hot as it says, the mix could have been too tall. If the oven door was opened when cooking it might have stopped the cooking process too. Making it flatter might have worked. You could also try adding 20 degrees to the recipe too.
Did you have anything else in the oven at the same time? If you did might have slowed the cooking time a little bit.