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Strawberry Almond Pavlova Heart
Susan Phillips
Read Bio »Strawberry Almond Pavlova Heart
Pavlova.
It’s a fancy, Russian term for meringue.
And it forms up into some pretty awesome hearts! Just in time for Valentine’s Day (hint hint)
These bake low and slow, so you can take your time preparing the other ingredients while they are doing their thing in the oven. I used fresh California strawberries from Driscoll’s. (See my post HERE where I show you how you can see exactly which field your strawberries are coming from).
Even though it’s only February, California strawberries are bright red and juicy, and the perfect topper for these special treats.
If you’ve never had Pavlova before, you are in for a major surprise. They are light and airy, but have a wonderful, luxurious texture. These particular meringues are the perfect base for our decadent cream and fruit. I made mine while the kids were in school, popped them in the fridge, and served them up as a special treat when they got home.
Wanna make some?
I always start with fresh, California ingredients:
The main ingredient of a meringue is egg whites. I have this handy dandy egg separator that makes life easier in ensuring the yolk does not mix with the whites.
You can always make these into round pavlovas, but if you’d like to make the hearts, and don’t trust your freehand, you can trace a heart cookie cutter onto parchment to create a guide for the meringue.
Using a piping bag fitted with a large open tip, pipe the meringue on to the parchment, covering the entire heart shape
On the outer edges, pipe small dollops to create a raised edge and bake for 2 hours at 250 degrees.
While they are cooking, place 1/2 lb. sliced strawberries into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mash until pulverized and set aside
Slice the remaining strawberries for the tops. I added a groove cut to the strawberry before I started slicing to achieve an adorable heart shape to the finished product.
Once the meringues are finished baking, add the fresh whipped cream to the center cavity.
Top with the sliced strawberries
Douse in the reserved strawberry juice
Sprinkle with crushed, slivered almonds
And enjoy to your ‘hearts’ content!
Here’s the entire, printable recipe for ya…
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup baker's sugar, separated
- 1/4 t. cream of tartar
- 2 lbs. California strawberries
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds, crushed
- Preheat oven to 250
- Whip the egg whites until frothy
- Add the cream of tartar and the sugar 1 T. at time while the mixer is on med/high. Mix until stiff peaks are formed.
- Pipe onto the parchment in a single layer, filling in the entire shape
- Around the edges, pipe small dollops to form a raised edge
- Bake at 250 degrees for one hour. After an hour, turn the oven off and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for another hour while it cools
- Slice all the strawberries
- To make the juice, add about 1/2 lb. of the sliced strawberries with 1 T. of sugar and mash until pulverized.
- To make the whip cream, add 1 c. heavy cream with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 t. vanilla. Whip until desired consistency.
- Remove the meringues form the oven and pipe in the whipped cream to the centers.
- Top with sliced strawberries and reserved strawberry juice
- Sprinkle crushed almonds over all and serve