Cappuccino Pavlova - Individual Servings

Asked by heather_goo. Answered on 26th January 2013

Full question

I was hoping to make individual servings of the Cappuccino Pavlova, similar to those that Nigella served at the Young & Foodish pop-up tea last year. What would the cooking time and temperature be? I'm imagining something with about a 2 inch diameter. Thanks in advance!

Our answer

Nigella did serve mini Cappucino Pavlovas at the pop-up teas, along with mini versions of the Nutella Cheesecake and the Italian Christmas Cake (all from Nigellissima). If you use the Cappucino Pavlova ingredient quantities in the original recipe you should get 30 mini pavlovas.

Start by preheating the oven to 180c/350F. Cut 2 pieces of baking parchment (parchment paper) to fit 2 baking sheets. Mark 15 circles on each piece of parchment by drawing around a 4cm/1 3/4-inch diameter round cutter. Put the parchment onto the baking sheets.

Make the meringue base, as directed in the recipe. You make like to put a very small dot of meringue in each of the 4 corners of each piece of parchment to help anchor them to the baking sheets when you form the pavlova bases. Dollop 1 tablespoonful of the meringue into the centre of each marked circle and smooth and shape it with a spatula so that it fills the circle and has a flat top. It should look like the top of a straw boater hat and must have a flat top.

Put the meringues into the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 150c/300F. Bake for 30 minutes - the outer shell of the meringues should be crisp, but only just. When ready, remove the baking sheets from the oven and put on wire racks to cool. When the meringues are cool, carefully peel them away from the parchment and put onto plates or a large serving dish.

Whip the cream until thickened and airy, but still soft, and spread delicately over the tops of the meringues. Use a teaspoon to push the cocoa powder through a small sieve or tea strainer to decorate - cappucino-style.