Matcha Green Tea Pavlova
Originally posted April 13, 2016. Updated 2/4/2021
Recently, we celebrated my husband’s birthday with an All-you-can-eat sushifest.
Great time- Friends kicked in $10 each towards ingredients, I did all the shopping and prep work.
When they arrived for the party, We started with chicken satay and gyoza (both homemade - click the links for the recipes!), before digging into the custom sushi.
I made 3 sushi sauces , and bought a ton of ingredients - various fish, veggies, wrappers, and more.
Usually, I do a pavlova for his birthday, as that’s our favourite “cake” these days... but my usual pavlovas (Any variation on my Basic Pavlova, my Bananas Foster Pavlova, etc) didn’t seem like the best match for a sushi party.
So, I got creative:
Green Tea Pavlova
A matcha flavoured pavlova with a lightly sweetened matcha flavoured whipped cream, topped with fruit to fit the theme.
Lychee was my immediate thought, and I balanced that - both flavour and colour - with canned Mandarin orange segments, and balls of fresh honeydew.
It was so pretty and went over SO well.
Though we were all painfully full and feeling the beginning stages of sushi coma, everyone snarfed their pavlova happily while declaring their undying love for it.
There was one comment about being able to live on that for the rest of their lives!
So... I had to share the recipe 🙂
Pavlova Tips
Pavlovas are super easy to make, and this twist is a fun one. The matcha and lychee go so well together, and the bright flavours of the oranges and honeydew balances it all SO well!
Here are a few tips to start it out on a good base:
- Eggs are easiest to crack when cold, and easiest to whip at room temperature. Plan around these facts :)!
- Be VERY careful to not get any egg yolk into the whites at all - not even a speck of it - or the eggs will not whip up. For that matter, be very careful to use a very clean bowl and mixer - any kind of oil / fat / etc is your enemy here.
- Add your sugar SLOWLY, as you’re beating the egg whites. You don’t want to overwhelm the building structure of the egg whites.
- Once your Pavlova is in the oven, don’t open the door until several hours after you turn the oven off. Patience is required!
- Wait until JUST before you plan to serve the Pavlova to whip the cream and dress up the meringue - once you put the whipped cream on, you’ll want to serve it immediately.
Related: Pavlova doesn’t keep well as leftovers, so be sure to eat all of it. It won’t be difficult!
- A quick head's up: 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! Totally normal for a Pavlova, no one will notice or care!
More Pavlova Recipes
Do you love Pavlovas like we do? Awesome! I have several more super tasty Pavlova recipes for you...
Blueberry Pavlova
Cardamom Fig Pavlova
Chocolate Raspberry 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!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!
Also, be sure to follow me on Pinterest, and subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.
Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Matcha Pavlova With Lychee, Melon, and Mandarin Oranges
Equipment
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
For Meringue
- 4 Large Egg Whites
- 1 Cup Super Fine / Castor Sugar *
- Pinch Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoon Matcha Powder
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoon Vinegar
Toppings
- 1 ¼ Cups Heavy Cream Very cold
- 2 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Matcha Powder
- Honeydew Balls
- 1 Small Can Lychee Drained and chopped
- 1 Small Can Mandarin Orange Segments Drained
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 sugar, and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Turn off mixer, remove bowl.
- Mix cornstarch and matcha powder together, ensuring no lumps of matcha remain. Carefully fold into meringue. Sprinkle vanilla and vinegar over meringue, gently fold until well 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!
- Just before serving, whip together the heavy cream, sugar, and matcha powder until it reaches desired thickeness.
- Mound the whipped cream on your pavlova, and top with fruit. Serve immediately!
Notes
- If you can't find super fine / castor sugar, you can just run regular granulated sugar through a food processor for a few minutes. Measure AFTER processing!
Nutrition
More "Sushi-Adjacent" - and Sushi! - Recipes
Here are a few more recipes that you may enjoy!
DIY Sushi Birthday Cake
Easy Sushi Casserole
Homemade Gyoza / Potstickers
How to Make Sushi Rice
Mango Salad
Pepper Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Cream Sauce
Spicy Tuna Maki
Tuna Avocado Mango Maki
Jessie
Hi what is the crust I see underneath?
Marie Porter
That's the Pavlova meringue.