Cookies-and-Cream Pavlova

By Eric Kim

Published April 27, 2022

Cookies-and-Cream Pavlova
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
Total Time
2 ¾ hours
Rating
4(706)
Comments
Read comments

The story goes that Pavlova, a dessert which both Australia and New Zealand lay claim to, is named after the prima ballerina Anna Pavlova, who performed in both countries in the 1920s. Ms. Pavlova’s tutu, billowing round with layers of lace, is the inspiration for the creamy meringue dessert. This simple version combines a crackled, speckled meringue disk — crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside — and a swoopy crown of salted whipped cream. Fans of the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal will delight in this four-ingredient Pavlova, whose flavor is reminiscent of those hearts, stars and horseshoes. Here, the “cookies” in cookies-and-cream are, as ever, Oreos, which lend that dreamy teeter-totter of milky white and bittersweet black.

Featured in: The Pavlova Begs for Improvisation

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

    For the Meringue

    • 4large egg whites
    • Pinch of salt
    • ¾cup/151 grams granulated sugar
    • 10chocolate sandwich cookies (113 grams), such as Oreos

    For the Topping

    • 2cups/480 milliliters heavy whipping cream
    • 2tablespoons granulated sugar
    • Pinch of salt
    • 5chocolate sandwich cookies (57 grams), such as Oreos
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

313 calories; 22 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 25 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 92 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 250 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    Make the meringue: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites and salt. Whisk on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. While the machine is still going, slowly add the sugar in a narrow stream, then raise the speed to high. Whisk the egg whites until glossy, stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes. When you lift the whisk out of the bowl and turn it upside-down, a meringue mountain peak should form without flopping over.

  3. Step 3

    Coarsely crush or chop the 10 cookies and add to the meringue. Gently stir with a rubber spatula or large metal spoon until the cookies ripple throughout.

  4. Step 4

    Mound the meringue onto the center of the parchment-lined sheet pan and, using the spatula or spoon, gently form into a round that’s about 8 to 9 inches wide and 2 to 3 inches high. You can encourage this shape by repeating a circular motion that swirls the meringue and creates lovely waves so the surface doesn’t look smooth. When you’re happy with your disk, make one final circular motion in the center to create an indent, where you’ll pool the whipped cream later.

  5. Step 5

    Bake the meringue for 1½ hours, then turn off the oven, leaving the door shut, and let the meringue finish cooking in the residual heat until crisp and dry on the outside with a springy, marshmallowy interior (but it should not be wet), 15 to 30 minutes. Remove the meringue from the oven and let it sit on the counter to cool completely.

  6. Step 6

    While the meringue cools, make the topping: In a large, clean bowl or in the stand mixer (with a clean bowl), whisk together the heavy cream, sugar and salt until billowy soft peaks form. When you turn the whisk upside-down, a peak of cream should flop over slightly like a Santa hat.

  7. Step 7

    Pile the whipped cream on top of the cooled meringue, leaving a border, and top the cream with the 5 cookies, crushing them over the cream with your hands or chopping them and sprinkling them on top. Slice and serve the Pavlova like a cake.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
706 user ratings
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Comments

MM Girard

Eric Kim--You are a national treasure. God bless.

gerry in Oregon

I put the meringue in a sturdy plastic bag, snipped off a small corner and squeezed the stiff whites into a circular pattern on parchment paper, building up the edges with more meringue till I had a nice "bowl". Baked, cooled. Added homemade lemon curd into the "indent" and whipped cream with sliced strawberries on top. YUM

Melissa

Always let it cool in the oven (oven turned off obviously) and the door must be slightly ajar. You can leave it that way for hours. We usually bake our pavlova the day before Christmas and let it sit in the oven overnight before finishing with cream etc an hours or so prior to serving. 30 years of making pavlovas this way and it’s never failed me (or my grandmother who taught me how to make them). A pavlova for desert is a standard part of Christmas here (Austalia) a constant throughout Summer.

Marko

I made this for a friend's birthday, but swapped in Mini Eggs (his favourite) for the Oreos – the Mini Eggs melted into this delicious texture in the pavlova itself. Highly recommend, and I'll be trying the original Oreo version in the future.

RBCinNYC

The base of a Pavlova is so sweet already that it really needs the whipped cream + something acidic and tangy (like fruit or curd) to offset the one-note sweetness of the meringue. This recipe doesn't have that contrast. If you add some raspberries it is better.

Nercon5

Followed the recipe as written (except for whip times: I live in a dry climate), and it was fabulous. The salty whipped cream is poyfect on top.

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