Bananas Foster Pavlova is untraditional, both in its use of brown sugar to flavour the meringue base, and using bananas foster as a topping. SUPER tasty, though!
Originally published February 16, 2014. Updated on 2/11/2023
Just flew back from a WILD trip to Dallas this past week. Stayed with friends, enjoyed great company, great food, ... Vanilla Ice, Ninja Turtles.. drunkenly prank calling some of my MasterChef "prison buddies" with Matt Orsini (remember him from my videos?).. and more.
Truly epic trip!
Meeting Ben Starr
One thing that I was particularly looking forward to, was meeting Ben Starr for the first time.
As you may recall, Ben was my "Haymitch", as I prepared for my brief stint on MasterChef.
I realized this week that it's been almost a year and a half since first contact!
After I arrived in Dallas, we planned to meet up on our second last night in Dallas - he would have me and my husband over for dinner, along with John - one of our friends that we were staying with.
I was honestly kind of nervous - meeting people always makes me nervous, but Ben was even beyond that - someone I owed a good chunk of my sanity to, over the whole course of the past year and a half.
I don't *ever* get star struck, but apparently I DO get "Starr" struck!
So, with a few hours to go before dinner, I texted him to once again ask if there was anything I could bring, hoping that I could get my mind off of "Man, I wonder what this whole thing would have been like, if I'd never contacted him".
I offered to bring dessert, and he accepted.
Yes! Distraction!
Relief soon turned to stress, as I realized that I was in a kitchen that was not my own, with no real access to grocery stores, not a whole lot in the way of available ingredients, and only a few hours to go.
Yay for speaking before thinking things out, eh?
Introducing: Bananas Foster Pavlova
We'd purchased the stuff to make a bananas foster bread pudding the following day - erring on the side of too much in the way of ingredients, as I hadn't created the recipe yet.
I quickly worked things out and could tell I had enough to make a bit of bananas foster... and I could easily make a bananas foster pavlova.
Done and done - and Pavlova IS my favourite dessert ever, afterall.
Less than 10 minutes later, the pavlova was in the oven, and the wonderful aroma of bananas foster was wafting off the stovetop.
The hour+ drive to his house, I was so nervous. Would I say something stupid? What if I got really emotional about the last year and a half and just bawled on sight? What if he really hated my dessert?
Ben Starr-Struck!
Then, he answered the door in his underwear. I'd actually been so nervous I didn't even notice, til he pointed it out. We laughed, and my social tension disappeared!
His business partner - from his underground dining venture, "Frank" - Jennie was there.
They were both all kinds of awesome. Later on, Ben's partner Christian arrived, and HE was all kinds of awesome.
The whole evening was unbelievably awesome, and yes - I know I'm overusing awesome. IT WAS AWESOME. So much laughter. Such great food! An illicit absinthe collection, a chicken on the table... good times!
Anyway, I could yap all day about that evening (Did I mention that we had an AWESOME TIME?)... but I'm here to share a recipe!
Pavlova Tips
- Eggs are easiest to crack when cold, and easiest to whip at room temperature. Govern yourself accordingly!
- Super fine / castor sugar is granulated sugar with a much finer grain size than regular granulated sugar. It is NOT powdered / icing sugar!
Super fine sugar is usually sold near the sugar in the baking aisle, in small boxes – sometimes resembling milk cartons.
If you aren’t able to find actual super fine sugar, you can process regular granulated sugar in your food processor until fine. Measure AFTER you process!
- Be INCREDIBLY careful to not get any egg yolk into the whites, or the eggs will not whip up. For that matter, be very careful to use a very clean bowl and mixer - grease is your enemy here.
- Related: You cannot use oil-based flavoring in your pavlova meringue. Its presence will cause the meringue structure to break down.
- Add your sugar SLOWLY, as you’re beating the eggs. You don’t want to overwhelm the eggs.
- Once your Pavlova is in the oven, don’t open the door until several hours after you turn the oven off. Patience!
- Don’t whip the cream and top the Pavlova until RIGHT before you serve it. This doesn’t keep well as leftovers, so be sure to eat all of it 🙂
- If your meringue is not cracked by the time you remove it from the oven, it will likely crack at some other point, and will almost certainly crack when you start garnishing.
Don't worry, this is totally normal for a Pavlova, no one will notice or care!
Making Bananas Foster Pavlova
This recipe is a bit different from a normal pavlova, in that I swap out half of the white sugar, for brown.
This changes the texture - the inside of the meringue ends up almost cakey!
It's delicious, and is naturally gluten-free. Also, as has been road-tested... it's a great recipe to pull out as a last-minute sure-to-impress dessert!
How to Make Bananas Foster Pavlova
The full recipe follows at the end of the post, but here’s a pictorial overview.
Get Ready
Preheat your oven.
Remove eggs from the fridge and allow to warm to room temp (about 5 minutes).
Line a baking (cookie) sheet with parchment paper, and set it aside.
Fit your electric mixer with the whisk attachment.
Make Your Meringue
In your mixer bowl, beat egg whites together with salt until glossy peaks form.
Slowly add in the sugars, and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Turn off mixer, remove bowl.
Sprinkle vanilla, vinegar, and cornstarch over meringue, gently fold in till combined.
Heap meringue onto the center of your baking sheet.
Use a spatula to spread the meringue out to approximately an 8-9″ circle.
I like to have my meringue a fairly even depth throughout – some like a mound, some like it to be a little concave.
If you want to get really fancy, put the meringue into a pastry bag and pipe it out as a mass of swirls that form your 8″ circle! It’s really up to you!
Put the baking sheet into your oven, and turn the temperature down to 250 degrees.
Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Once your timer goes off, turn the oven off and let the meringue cool in the oven for several hours.
The baking of the meringue can be done the day before, if needed!
Make the Bananas Foster Topping
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and rum, stirring until well combined.
Add banana slices, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until desired texture.
Remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature.
Note: If you chill it, you’re more likely to get little dots of chilled butter on the surface of your bananas foster. Perfectly fine to eat, but I’m not a fan of the look!
Just Before Serving
Just before serving, whip the heavy cream, along with the brown sugar.
Once it’s just about thick enough, turn the speed down and add the rum.
Once rum is fully combined, turn up the speed and whip until it reaches a good, thick texture.
Mound the whipped cream on your pavlova, and top with bananas foster and toasted pecans.
Serve immediately!
Ok, I'm going to go get some sleep now...
More Pavlova Recipes
Do you love Pavlovas like we do? Awesome! I have several more super tasty Pavlova recipes for you...
Basic Pavlova Recipe
Blueberry Pavlova
Cardamom Fig Pavlova
Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova
Matcha Green Tea Pavlova
Pavlova Charcuterie Board
Tropical Dragonfruit Pavlova
Seasonal Pavlovas
Christmas Tree Pavlova
Easter Egg Pavlova
Halloween Pavlova with Bloody Eyeballs
Heart Shaped Valentine's Pavlova
Share the Love!
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Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Bananas Foster Pavlova
Equipment
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
Meringue:
- 4 Large Egg Whites
- ½ Cup Super Fine / Castor Sugar *
- ½ Cup Brown Sugar Packed
- Pinch Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoon Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
Bananas Foster:
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ Cup Amber Rum
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 4-5 Bananas
Whipped Cream:
- 1 ¼ Cup Heavy Cream
- ¼ Cup Brown Sugar Loose, NOT packed
- ¼ Cup Amber Rum
- ½ Cup Toasted Pecans
Instructions
- Get ready: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove eggs from fridge and allow to warm to room temp (about 5 minutes). Line a baking (cookie) sheet with parchment paper, and set aside. Fit your electric mixer with the whisk attachment.
- In your mixer bowl, beat egg whites together with salt until glossy peaks form. Slowly add in the sugars, and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Turn off mixer, remove bowl.
- Sprinkle vanilla, vinegar, and cornstarch over meringue, gently fold in till combined.
- Heap meringue onto the center of your baking sheet. Use a spatula to spread the meringue out to approximately an 8-9″ circle. I like to have my meringue a fairly even depth throughout – some like a mound, some like it to be a little concave. If you want to get really fancy, put the meringue into a pastry bag and pipe it out as a mass of swirls that form your 8″ circle! It’s really up to you!
- Put the baking sheet into your oven, and turn the temperature down to 250 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Once your timer goes off, turn the oven off and let the meringue cool in the oven for several hours. The baking of the meringue can be done the day before, if needed!
AS THAT IS BAKING:
- Make your Bananas Foster topping: In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and rum, stirring until well combined. Add banana slices, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until desired texture. Remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature.
- Just before serving, whip the heavy cream, along with the brown sugar. Once it’s just about thick enough, turn the speed down and add the rum. Once rum is fully combined, turn up the speed and whip until it reaches a good, thick texture.
- Mound the whipped cream on your pavlova, and top with bananas foster and toasted pecans. Serve immediately!
Notes
Nutrition
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