Pavlova with Sea Buckthorn

Name: Pavlova with Sea Buckthorn
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 5
Cuisine: Australian cuisine
Ingredients: 250 gm egg whites (use the ones left over from making ice cream); 400 gm powdered sugar; 1 ts white wine or apple cider vinegar; 500 ml cream (35%); 400 gm sea buckthorn; 8 gm pectin; 100 gm sugar, or to taste; a few basil leaves and powdered sugar for decoration

June 23, 2026August 25, 2026 Kateryna Bondar

Cuisine

Australian cuisine

Course

Desserts

Serves 5 people

Prep time

40m

Cook Time

1h 0m

Pavlova is a dessert built on a crisp meringue base that stays tender inside, named after the ballerina Anna Pavlova; Australia and New Zealand still argue over who invented this meringue cake. In this autumn version, the classic berries are swapped for sea buckthorn, whose bright tartness cuts beautifully through the sweetness of the meringue and cream.

The recipe is born of a practical need: when ice cream or zabaglione uses up a lot of yolks, you’re left with a pile of whites, and meringue becomes the most obvious way to use them. The sea buckthorn here isn’t merely strained but cooked down with pectin into a dense, vivid orange puree that holds its shape between the layers.

Tips and Substitutions

The main secret to meringue is slow drying at 212 F (100 C) and several hours in the turned-off oven with the door shut; don’t open it, or the temperature change will crack the disk.
Beat the whites in a clean, dry bowl without a single drop of fat or yolk, or the foam won’t rise.
Vinegar stabilizes the whites and helps the meringue stay tender inside; you can replace it with a few drops of lemon juice.
Sea buckthorn can be replaced with cranberries or red currants; tart berries are essential here for the balance.

Assemble the cake right before serving: meringue quickly absorbs moisture from the cream and loses its crispness. Once assembled, the dessert doesn’t keep for long.

Ingredients

Instructions

Beat the egg whites with the vinegar using a mixer until you have a fluffy foam. Then add the powdered sugar (300 g) in a thin stream, continuing to beat. Don't stop; keep beating the whites and sugar at high speed for another 15 minutes or so.
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
Line a baking sheet with parchment and mark the paper down the middle. Spread the egg-white mixture in a thin layer over each half of the sheet to make two meringue disks. Lower the oven to 212 F (100 C) and bake the meringue for 1 hour. Then turn off the oven. Without opening the door, leave the disks in the oven for at least another 4 hours, or better yet overnight; after this gentle drying the meringue should be crisp outside but stay tender within.
Whip the cream with the remaining powdered sugar into an airy mass, but don't overdo it, so you don't lose the fluffiness.
Blend the sea buckthorn in a blender. Add the sugar and pectin and let it sit for 5 minutes. Stirring constantly, bring the puree to a boil and simmer over low heat for another 3 to 4 minutes. Pass the puree through a sieve, cool it, and let it thicken slightly.
Assemble the cake: spread half the whipped cream over a meringue disk, then a layer of half the sea buckthorn. Repeat the layers. Decorate the cake with basil leaves. Cut a stencil from paper (a maple leaf, for example), lay it on the cake, and dust powdered sugar through a fine sieve. Carefully lift away the stencil: the silhouette of an autumn leaf will remain on the top orange sea-buckthorn layer.

Nutrition: Calories: 520 kcal · protein 7 g · fat 31 g · carbs 56 g (per serving, estimated)