Christmas Pavlova

This Christmas Pavlova is a showstopper dessert. Imagine a crisp meringue base topped with softly whipped cream, red wine poached pears and a decadent chocolate sauce drizzle. However, you will be surprised at how easy it is to make. Since the components can all be made ahead of time, it’s a great one for entertaining as you can just assemble at the last minute with minimal fuss. 

This recipe makes one large round pavlova, but you can play around with the shape, sometimes I like to make it in a ring shape to look like a wreath (like my Christmas wreath pavlova) . But I love the way you can pile this Pavlova high with whipped cream and it makes a real centre piece. I love the combination of pears and chocolate (my chocolate and pear cake is so good too). I think the way the pears turn gorgeously blushed from the red wine poaching make this recipe feel and look festive. These pears alone served with some vanilla ice cream also makes a great pudding.

Many people worry about pavlovas as they have a tendency to crack. Firstly, I want to say that if your pavlova cracks, that is more than fine. You can see mine is cracked, that's part of the nature of a pavlova and is perfectly fine, nothing to worry about. Usually, it’s just a small crack or two which is covered with cream anyway. It will still hold together. Sometimes these things happen and there’s nothing to be done. However, there are some tips below in the Cooking Tips section to help avoid a crack if you are a real perfectionist. Personally, I think a crack just adds to the charm of the dessert, so I wouldn’t worry.

Why you will love this Christmas Pavlova recipe:

• It looks really impressive which makes it a perfect celebration pudding for the festive season.
• The components are all prepped ahead of time which means you can just decorate when you want to serve it.
• The combination of pears and chocolate is one of the best ever. Poaching the pears in red wine takes it to the next level.
• This pavlova is naturally gluten free (do check your individual packaging though) which makes it a great crowd-pleaser.

Ingredients:

Full recipe can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, just scroll down.

Oranges - oranges are festive to me; a real Christmas flavour. The citrus also helps to stop the pears browning once peeled. 

Pears - you want to use ripe but firm (make sure they are not totally soft). Small pears really are preferable for this. If you can only find large pears, use a vegetable peeler to shave them down a bit and cut their bottoms off. You can enjoy any offcuts as a snack or use them in a crumble (like my apple and blackberry crumble). 

Red wine - this is to poach the pears. It gives them a gorgeous flavour and colour. I find Pinot Noir the best to use here. 

Honey - this is to sweeten the poaching liquid slightly, which in turn, sweetens the pears.

Caster sugar - this adds sweetness, helps stabilise the meringue and produce the crisp exterior. I also add a little to sweeten the poaching liquid. Any kind of sugar will work but it makes sense to use the same one as the meringue.

Spices - I like to use a cinnamon stick and ground cardamom. This gives a warming flavour to the pears and feels nice and festive too.

Egg whites - free-range eggs stamped with the British Lion mark are the best. They help give its structure and light and airy texture. I like to use room-temperature egg whites when whipping but it’s easier to separate the eggs when they are fridge cold. You can use the leftover egg yolks in my lemon meringue tart.

Cocoa powder - this gives the meringue a subtle chocolate flavour as well as a golden brown hue. 

White wine vinegar - this helps to stabilise the egg whites so that the meringue doesn’t collapse too much. 

Cornflour - this helps to stabilise the egg whites so that the meringue doesn’t separate and no liquid from the egg whites seep out.

Dark chocolate - I use dark chocolate here as the rest of the meringue is sweet so this balances it nicely. Opt for the best quality you can find, ideally 70%, for the most delicious results.

Double cream - this is partly for the chocolate sauce (which is essentially a loose ganache) as well as to fill the middle of the pavlova. The key for that part is not to over whip. You want beautifully soft and pillowy peaks. They will give a lovely swirl to the decoration. Make sure you use double cream. Single cream doesn’t have a high enough fat content to whip up and hold its shape.

Substitutions and Variations:

• Honey - I love the subtle floral taste honey gives the poaching liquid. However, you can also use maple syrup. 
• Sugar - you can use golden caster sugar for a subtle caramel-like flavour. Your Christmas pavlova will be slightly darker than if you just use caster sugar. However, since there’s cocoa powder in the meringue anyway, colour doesn’t really matter.
• Nuts: a sprinkling of nuts add a delicious texture to this Christmas pavlova. Hazelnuts and almonds are delicious. I also love pistachios as the green looks super festive. Remember to toast them first to bring out the flavourl Alternatively, crushed amaretti biscuits are divine!
• Chocolate - you can use milk chocolate for the chocolate sauce, if you prefer. However, if you prefer sweeter flavours, I would opt for a lower cocoa solids dark chocolate. It’s less bitter but not quite as sweet as milk chocolate. Try a 54% bar instead.
• Red wine altenatives - the pears can be poached without the red wine. I think the red wine makes it look more festive but if you would like to omit it, there are alternatives. Either use an alcohol free red wine or fruit juice. It would work well with orange juice or cranberry juice, even apple juice. If you want to, you can poach the pears in a sugar syrup. Substitute with 450ml water and add the honey and caster sugar as instructed. The final amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the pears and your own tastes. So taste it as you go, and add more sugar as needed. Go slowly as you can always add but can't take away.
• Red wine syrup - chocolate sauce isn't the only way to serve this, you could reduce the red wine poaching liquid into a thick syrup. It's so delicious and it complements the pears so well, of course. Remove the pears from the pear as instructed but don't discard the poaching liquid. Then turn the heat to medium-high and bubble the poaching liquid until totally reduced, syrupy and glossy. This will take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, it will depend on the pan used and how much it bubbles, so be patient with it.
• Serve without meringue - of course, this is a pavlova recipe but the poached pears in red wine do really stand out on their own. You could serve with poached pears with the whipped cream and then either the chocolate sauce or the reduced red wine syrup, as detailed above. For the pavlova, I like to use small, delicate pears as they look daintier but if you were to serve without the meringue, you could use larger, more pointy pears. Slice the bottom off so they stand tall. You could also core the pears if you'd like. This is optional, it's definitely a fancier way of doing it and can be a little fiddly but I would do it if serving for a dinner party. If I were just serving at home, I don't mind keeping the stalks in.

Directions:

Here's a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe below for detailed instructions.

Part 1: For the poached pears

ONE: Zest and juice one of the oranges and pour the juice into a large mixing bowl. Slice the remaining orange into ¼-inch rounds.

TWO: With a vegetable peeler, peel the pears, leaving them whole.

THREE: Add the pears to the bowl with the orange juice and toss to coat (this will help prevent them from turning brown too quickly).

FOUR: Add the orange slices, red wine, honey, sugar, cinnamon stick, and cardamom to a saucepan.

FIVE: Place the pan over a medium-high heat and bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat and carefully add the pears and orange juice. Cover and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, occasionally rotating them using a wooden spoon, until the pears have softened enough for a skewer inserted in the middle of a pear at the thickest part to be met with no resistance.

SIX: Transfer the pears back to the bowl that you tossed with orange juice. Set aside to cool.

Part 2: Making the Pavlova

ONE: Preheat the oven to 120C / 100C Fan. Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk on low until foamy, then increase to medium until soft peaks form.

TWO: Gradually add the caster sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until dissolved. Increase the speed to high and whisk for 8 minutes, or until stiff peaks form and there are no grains of sugar dispersed in the mixture. Test this by rubbing some of the meringue between your thumb and index finger, it shouldn’t feel grainy.  Add the vinegar and whisk for a further 10 seconds until just combined. 

THREE: Sieve in the cornflour and cocoa powder, then fold in with a large metal spoon. Take care to keep in as much air as possible.

FOUR: Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper - using some of the meringue as glue to stick down the base of the baking paper to the tray. Pile the meringue in the middle, then lightly and evenly distribute into a dome about 15 cm in diameter.

FIVE: Scoop out a little from the middle, to create a shallow volcano cavity, then add back to the sides and evenly distribute. Once smooth, using a butter knife or small palette knife, glide vertically up the surface and across the top of the pavlova on a slight angle to form a striped pattern.

SIX: Clean up the cavity if necessary, then bake in the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Next, turn the oven off but don’t open the oven door. Leave the pavlova inside to cool completely for at least 4 hours.

Part 3: Making the Chocolate Sauce and assembling the Christmas Pavlova

ONE: Make the chocolate sauce: put the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set aside. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Slowly bring to a simmer.

TWO: Remove from the heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Stir well until the chocolate is completely melted

THREE: Whip the cream in a mixing bowl

FOUR: Spoon a generous amount of freshly whipped cream onto the center of the Pavlova.

FIVE: Add the cooled poached pears on top of the whipped cream.

SIX: . Drizzle with chocolate sauce and serve!

Cooking Tips:

• Separating egg whites: when separating the eggs, be really careful to not split any yolks which will leave behind a trace. I like to break each egg into a separate bowl, then remove the yolk and transfer the whites individually to a new container. That way if one yolk breaks, you don’t ruin the other 5 egg whites alongside.
• Adding sugar: take care to gradually add the sugar 1 tablespoon at the time. This will help the structure of the meringue - don’t be tempted to dump it all in. You can test that all the sugar is dissolved in the meringue by pinching a little of the mix between two fingers. If you can still feel grains of sugar, it needs to whip longer.
• Cooling: for best results, this Christmas pavlova needs to cool very slowly. This helps to prevent cracks forming and keeps it looking pretty. However, a slightly cracked pavlova isn’t the end of the world. I rather like the rustic look. Plus, whipped cream, poached pears and chocolate sauce can hide a multitude of sins!
• Whipped cream: watch closely as you whip the cream and only take it to soft peaks. You don’t want it spongy or turning it into butter where the milk fats separate out. You want it just thickened. If you dragged a spoon through the mix, it would only just hold its shape and it would slowly sink back down. Go slowly, you can always whip a little more but you can’t undo. If you take it too far, it will split. It doesn’t have to be wasted though! Keep whipping and you eventually have homemade butter. You will need to start again with fresh cream for your pavlova though…
• Christmas Eton Mess: don’t panic if your pavlova wreath cracks or you break it when removing it from the tray. You can either patch it together with whipped cream or turn it into a festive Eton Mess.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other recipes you might enjoy:

For more Christmas inspiration, try my no bake tiramisu cake (made with panettone) or my apple crumble cheesecake. My chocolate brownie trifle and chocolate cake with chocolate mousse are also firm favourites. Otherwise I have a Wreath Pavlova or a Pear and Chocolate Christmas Pavlova to try.

Made this recipe and loved it?

I would love love LOVE if you could leave a review in the comments…  I love hearing what you thought, any changes you made, the stories behind what made you try my recipes. Also, if you share a photo on Instagram, please tag me @desertislanddishes, it makes my day to see you making my creations!

Christmas Pavlova

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This Christmas pavlova is the ultimate show stopping festive dessert. Imagine a crisp meringue base topped with softly whipped cream, red wine poached pears and a decadent chocolate sauce drizzle. The perfect make ahead dessert for easy entertaining…

• Author: Margie
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours 15 minutes, plus cooling
• Total Time: 6 hours
• Yield: 6 - 8 1x
• Category: Dessert and Cakes
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Australian
• Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the poached pears:

• 2 large oranges
• 6 ripe but firm small pears - small pears really are preferable for this - you can always use a vegetable peeler to shave them down a bit and cut their bottoms off, but leave their hats with the stalks on
• 480ml red wine (such as Pinot Noir)
• 60ml runny honey
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom

For the pavlova:

• 6 large egg whites
• 300 g caster sugar
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder

For the chocolate sauce:

• 75g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 100ml double cream

To serve:

• 600ml double cream, lightly whipped until spoonable

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Zest and juice one of the oranges and pour the juice into a large mixing bowl. Slice the remaining orange into ¼-inch rounds.
2. With a vegetable peeler, peel the pears, leaving them whole. Add the pears to the bowl with the orange juice and toss to coat (this will help prevent them from turning brown too quickly).
3. Add the orange slices, red wine, honey, sugar, cinnamon stick, and cardamom to a saucepan.
4. Place the pan over a medium-high heat and bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat and carefully add the pears and orange juice. Cover and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, occasionally rotating them using a wooden spoon, until the pears have softened enough for a skewer inserted in the middle of a pear at the thickest part to be met with no resistance.
5. Transfer the pears back to the bowl that you tossed with orange juice. Set aside to cool.
6. Next, make the pavlova: preheat the oven to 120C / 100C Fan. Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk on low until foamy, then increase to medium until soft peaks form.
7. Gradually add the caster sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until dissolved. Increase the speed to high and whisk for 8 minutes, or until stiff peaks form and there are no grains of sugar dispersed in the mixture. Test this by rubbing some of the meringue between your thumb and index finger, it shouldn’t feel grainy.
8. Add the vinegar and whisk for a further 10 seconds until just combined. 
9. Sieve in the cornflour and cocoa powder, then fold in with a large metal spoon. Take care to keep in as much air as possible.
10. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper - using some of the meringue as glue to stick down the base of the baking paper to the tray. Pile the meringue in the middle, then lightly and evenly distribute into a dome about 15 cm in diameter.
11. Scoop out a little from the middle, to create a shallow volcano cavity, then add back to the sides and evenly distribute. Once smooth, using a butter knife or small palette knife, glide vertically up the surface and across the top of the pavlova on a slight angle to form a striped pattern. Clean up the cavity if necessary, then bake in the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
12. Next, turn the oven off but don’t open the oven door. Leave the pavlova inside to cool completely for at least 4 hours.
13. Meanwhile, make the chocolate sauce: put the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set aside. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Slowly bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Stir well until the chocolate is completely melted.
14. To serve: set the cooled pavlova onto a plate. Top with the gently whipped cream and cooled poached pears. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and enjoy!

Notes

• Whipped cream: take care to whip the cream just to soft peaks for the decoration. if you over whip, it will split. Although you don’t have to throw it away! Keep whipping and you will eventually get something akin to butter. However, you will need to start again with fresh whipped cream for this Christmas pavlova.
• Chocolate: I love dark chocolate as it balances out the sweetness of the pavlova. A good quality milk chocolate also works well.  I sometimes grate over chocolate curls too. They look so pretty. 
• Red wine: the pears can be poached without the red wine. I think the red wine makes it look more festive but if you would like to omit it, there are alternatives. Either use an alcohol free red wine or fruit juice. It would work well with orange juice or cranberry juice, even apple juice. If you want to, you can poach the pears in a sugar syrup. Substitute with 450ml water and add the honey and caster sugar as instructed. The final amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the pears and your own tastes. So taste it as you go, and add more sugar as needed. Go slowly as you can always add but can't take away.
• Red wine syrup: I have served it before without chocolate sauce. You could reduce the red wine poaching liquid into a thick syrup. It's so delicious and it complements the pears so well, of course. Remove the pears from the pear as instructed but don't discard the poaching liquid. Then turn the heat to medium-high and bubble the poaching liquid until totally reduced, syrupy and glossy. This will take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, it will depend on the pan used and how much it bubbles, so be patient with it.
• Serve without meringue: You could serve with poached pears with the whipped cream and then either the chocolate sauce or the reduced red wine syrup, as detailed above. For the pavlova, I like to use small, delicate pears as they look daintier but if you were to serve without the meringue, you could use larger, more pointy pears. Slice the bottom off so they stand tall. You could also core the pears if you'd like. This is optional, it's definitely a fancier way of doing it and can be a little fiddly but I would do it if serving for a dinner party. If I were just serving at home, I don't mind keeping the stalks in.
• Nuts: to add a bit of texture, sprinkle this Christmas pavlova with toasted chopped nuts. Hazelnuts and almonds are delicious. I also love pistachios as the green looks super festive. Alternatively, crushed amaretti biscuits are divine!
• Make it vegan: although I haven’t tried it personally, lots of people make vegan pavlova with aquafaba (chickpea water). You could give it a try and then top with vegan whipped cream. Oatly’s Whippable Creamy Oat is good. Then just make sure your dark chocolate is vegan-friendly and swap the honey for maple syrup.
• Make ahead: this Christmas pavlova can be prepped ahead in stages. Don’t be tempted to assemble the whole thing in advance or it will go soggy. See FAQs for full make ahead advice.