gingerbread pavlova roulade

filled with fresh raspberries and orange whipped cream

my 2026 annual christmas pavlova! this year’s edition is a spiced brown sugar pavlova roulade, filled with orange cream and fresh raspberries

the roulade shape is super forgiving, really fun to assemble, and even more fun to eat!

it’s a great festive centrepiece, no matter the size of your crowd

serves four (generously)

ingredients

pavlova

4 egg whites at room temperature

70g brown sugar

130g caster sugar

0.75 tsp corn starch

0.5 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cardamom

assembly

300mL whipping cream

0.25 tsp almond essence

1 tsp vanilla extract

fresh raspberries

zest of one orange

method

pavlova

check the weight of your egg whites (4, about 117g total) and adjust the total amount of sugar (200g, 30% brown sugar 70% caster sugar) as required so the ratio of egg whites:sugar is about 1:1.7 by weight

preheat the oven to 160°C (not fan-forced)

in a very clean bowl, whip the egg whites on low speed until they are at medium (soft-to-medium) peaks — they should hold briefly but still curl at the tip

continue whipping and add the sugar one spoon at a time, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl

once all the sugar has been added, continue to whip until all the sugar has dissolved (check by rubbing some of the meringue between your fingertips to feel for grittiness)

sift over the cornstarch (0.75 tsp), and fold through with the lemon juice (0.5 tsp), vanilla extract (2 tsp), cinnamon (2 tsp), ginger (2 tsp), and cardamom (2 tsp)

working quickly, spoon the pavlova mixture onto a lined baking tray and spread evenly into a thin rectangle, right to the corners

bake for 25 minutes

while the pavlova bakes, lay a clean tea towel on the counter and dust generously with icing sugar

make sure to tell your family what the tea towel is, lest they shake it off and tidy it away while your back is turned!

once baked, remove the pavlova from the oven and turn onto the prepared tea towel

peel off the baking paper, then gently roll up the warm pavlova in the tea towel (roll from the short end)

let cool completely in the tea towel spiral

assembly

whip the cream to firm peaks

add the vanilla extract (1 tsp), almond extract (0.25 tsp) and a pinch of salt and fold through to combine

gently unroll the cooled pavlova

spread 3/4 of the whipped cream evenly over the pavlova

evenly sprinkle the orange zest over the cream

place a row of raspberries along the short edge you’ll roll from

starting at the raspberry edge, re-roll the pavlova

gently transfer to the serving plate

spoon the remaining whipped cream on top of the pavlova roulade and top with more raspberries and orange zest

slice and serve immediately

happy holidays and a delicious new year

penny