The only things better than fabulous homemade desserts are miniature versions of those desserts, like these delicious, adorable, bite-sized pavlovas.
Look how tiny and cute! The sweet, delicate crunch of the meringue shell, filled with lemon curd or pastry cream, topped with a ripe raspberry--mmm, nothing better! And since it's naturally gluten free, it's nice to have as a dessert option to have available for people with that dietary restriction.
Follow the same recipe for the regular large pavlova to make the meringue. Pipe the meringue into small dish shapes, tiny enough to eat in one or two bites.
Bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 90 minutes. Yes, this is the same time as for the big pavlovas. You might think you'd need to bake for a shorter period of time, but I tried that, and you do need the full hour and a half, even for these little guys.
Turn off the oven and let the meringue shells sit in the closed oven until completely cool. This takes several hours, and I like to make my meringues at night, so I just turn off the oven and go to bed, and when I wake up, the meringues are ready.
Look at those adorable little shells of sugary, crunchy delightfulness, just begging to be filled!
I filled some for Helene's tea party with homemade lemon curd, and some with homemade pastry cream.
Both were incredibly delicious.
I know, because I take quality control very seriously, and tasted quite a few, just to be absolutely sure they were perfect. They were.