Dessert

How to make a towering pavlova Christmas tree

Make Christmas spectacular with this towering tropical meringue Christmas tree recipe.
tropical meringue pavlova christmas treeJohn Paul Urizar
8 - 10
2H 30M

Pavlova is a central part to any Christmas celebration in Australia, and you can make yours even more spectacular with this towering tropical meringue Christmas tree recipe.

This stunning recipe requires you to create 5 meringues of different sizes to layer on top of each other to create the tree. Sandwiched together with delicious cream and fresh summer fruits, it’s just the thing to wow guests this Christmas.

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Ingredients

Method

1.Preheat oven to 120°C (100°C fan-forced). Grease two large oven trays. Draw a 19cm, 16cm, 13cm, 9cm and 6cm circles on baking paper (see below). Place on trays.
2.Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating until dissolved between additions and until meringue is smooth and glossy. Gently and quickly fold in coconut. The fat in the coconut will start to deflate the meringue, so don’t overwork it.
3.Place 1/2 cup of meringue on the 6cm circle; form a peak. Divide the remaining meringue between the remaining circles. Using the back of a spoon or palette knife, build up the sides.
4.Bake meringues for 1½ hours or until dry to the touch. Rotate trays halfway through. Cool meringues in oven with door ajar.
5.Beat the cream and icing sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Cut out 4cm and 3cm stars from kiwi fruit slices, if you like.
6.Just before serving, place the 19cm meringue on a cake stand. Spread with some of the cream mixture; top with 16cm meringue. Top with more cream mixture, some kiwi fruit and Rafaellos; drizzle with some of the passionfruit. Repeat with the 13cm and 9cm meringues. Top with the 6cm meringue, a little cream and a Rafaello. Just before serving, drizzle with the remaining passionfruit.

You’ll need about three passionfruit to for this recipe.

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The meringue layers can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in a cool dry place until it comes time to assemble.

Note

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