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    Home • Recipes • Gluten Free Recipes

    Lemon Meringue Pavlova Nests

    Published: May 10, 2013 · Modified: May 24, 2023 by Jill Colonna25 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Lemon meringue pavlova nests, a gluten free dessert with a tangy, low-sugar lemon cream. It's an easy recipe to make in advance. Top with your strawberries or your favourite fruits.

    mini pavlova meringue nests filled with lemon cream topped with strawberries

    Who loves lemon meringue pie? We certainly do and our favourite recipe is this Lemon and Passionfruit Meringue Tart in my second book, Teatime in Paris.

    shiny lemon tart with meringue piped around the border

    However, this is a gluten free lemon version without the pastry part. It's a simple dessert that's easy to prepare in advance. Just top with the fruits of your choice just before serving.

    Lemon Meringue Pavlova Nests

    mini pavlova meringue nests filled with lemon cream topped with strawberries

    Lemon Meringue Pavlova Nests

    Jill Colonna
    Lemon meringue pavlova nests, a gluten free dessert with a tangy, low-sugar lemon cream. Top with your strawberries or your favourite fruits.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
    Chilling Time 1 hour hr
    Total Time 2 hours hrs 35 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine British, French
    Servings 4 people

    Ingredients
      

    Meringue Nests

    • 2 egg whites organic
    • 225 g (8oz) sugar
    • 3 drops vanilla extract

    Lemon Curd (crème au citron)

    • 3 egg yolks organic
    • 85 g (3oz) sugar
    • 1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)
    • 3 lemons unwaxed
    • 100 ml (3.5fl oz) water
    • knob butter unsalted

    Instructions
     

    Meringue Nests

    • Preheat the oven to 130°C/110°C fan/250°F/Gas ½
    • Whisk the egg whites at high speed using a hand or stand mixer. Gradually rain in the sugar while continuing to whisk, adding the vanilla extract last, until the mixture is firm and glossy. It should form a peak (or bird's beak, bec de l'oiseau) on the whisk.
    • Spoon out 4 large heaps of the meringue on to a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Press them down and scoop out a cavity that you can fill later.
    • Bake for an hour in a cool oven.

    Lemon Curd (crème au citron)

    • Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a saucepan. Add the cornflour, zest and lemon juice then the water. Mix together well.
    • Over a medium heat, whisk until the cream thickens then take off the heat and mix in the butter. Set aside to cool.
    • When the meringues are ready, leave to cool then spoon in the lemon cream into each meringue nest and chill in the fridge for an hour.

    Notes

    Top with strawberries, blueberries or more of your favourite fruits.
    Keyword filling ideas for meringue nests, lemon cream for meringues, lemon curd filling

     

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    Jill Colonna standing in a French patisserie lab holding a giant whisk over an oversized mixer bowl

    Meet Jill Colonna

    Both Scottish and French, Jill is author of patisserie books and French food blog, Mad About Macarons since 2010. Join her 30 years' full-time experience of living the healthy food life in Paris - via easy recipes and local food guides in France.

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Jerome in Glasgow

      July 28, 2013 at 12:46 pm

      Just tried these for guests last night, who didn't leave a crumb! 🙂
      Thanks Jill for yet another beautiful recipe!

      The only thing I didn't manage to get is the spiky basket shapes (mine were more like cloudy not very deep nests), I wonder if I beat my egg whites/sugar for too long....?
      Will just need to try these again! 🙂

      Reply
      • Jill

        July 30, 2013 at 1:26 pm

        Pleased as punch to hear you tried them, Jérôme. I'm not sure what you mean by 'cloudy' so unsure what to advise. Please do try them again. They should be beaten enough still to form le bec de l'oiseau but glossy. Perhaps I should have said to move quickly on forming them. The more meringue waits on the counter before being baked, they become grainy and not as pretty. Using a spoon, the meringue should be firm enough to be able to form the spiky shapes. It's done quickly and haphazardly, not ages to produce an art form. Hope this helps!

        Thanks for popping by to give me your feedback. Love it when I hear when you've made the recipes.

        Reply
        • Jerome in Glasgow

          July 30, 2013 at 4:07 pm

          Thanks for the tips Jill, will definitely try again and move quickly next time as I really like that spiky look (mine looked like a white Barbapapa actually, all soft and comfy looking! Haha...)! 🙂

          Reply
    2. Choclette

      May 13, 2013 at 8:02 am

      Those pavlovas look absolutely delightful Jill and I bet that hubby person was very pleased to see you home. Glad you had a good time back in Scotland.

      We are more than a week behind here, but flowers have also got a little muddled - we seem to have the March, April and May flowers all out at the same time which makes our hedgerows look a little odd, but still very beautiful.

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 13, 2013 at 1:55 pm

        Choclette, it sounds like it's the same chez vous. It's so green here at this time of year and with all this rainfall, at least our grass is extremely green for once! Yep, hubby person was glad to have fresh food again, le pauvre 😉

        Reply
    3. June S

      May 13, 2013 at 1:07 am

      Lily of the Valley doesn't grow in our garden - probably it's far too cold here. M & S now sell a new perfume called Muguet.

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 13, 2013 at 1:53 pm

        I think we had it just as cold here too. I didn't think they'd grow here, either, but I planted the bulbs in a sheltered area at the back of my herb garden, if that helps...

        Reply
    4. Ann

      May 12, 2013 at 11:20 pm

      Love this new spin on the pavlova! Now... What's this about cheese scones?

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 13, 2013 at 1:52 pm

        Ooh, Ann, even reading the words cheese scones is putting on the weight again! I love them...

        Reply
    5. Kim - Liv Life

      May 12, 2013 at 6:03 am

      I adore pavlovas!! Haven't made them in quite some time though, and I think I feel somewhat inspired. The lemon creme is simply a bonus.
      Beautiful Lily of the Valley!! I grew them years and years ago, but they don't seem to do so well in my current location. Beautiful shot you have there.
      Happy Mother's Day Jill!! Hope you are having a lovely spring day filled with tasty treasures!

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 12, 2013 at 4:04 pm

        Thrilled to inspire, Kim, thanks. Happy Mother's Day to YOU in the USA. I woke up grumpy thinking that my kids had forgotten but in France it's next week, I think, for Fête des meres.

        Reply
    6. Maureen | Orgasmic Chef

      May 12, 2013 at 2:53 am

      I don't know how anyone cooks without scales. My cooking improved when I stopped cupping and went to weighing.

      Your lemon pavlovas sound wonderful and I love making something from otherwise soon to be tossed ingredients.

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 12, 2013 at 3:58 pm

        I hear you, Maureen! Me too.

        Reply
    7. Parisbreakfast

      May 11, 2013 at 2:57 pm

      This is my kind of dessert. Meringue + lemon + fruity bits = Heaven!
      I love your free-form meringue tarte thing
      Crunch crunch miam

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 11, 2013 at 3:01 pm

        Thanks, Carol. One of these rare occasions I used a spoon rather than a piping bag!

        Reply
    8. Fran @ G'day Souffle'

      May 11, 2013 at 2:45 am

      Jill, I happened to come across your blog via Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen. I'm particularly interested in French food and also 'les macarons.' I just took a master class in macarons here in Adelaide - I admit that it takes some practice mastering the pastry bag in squeezing out the mac's- but I think I've almost got it! I'm looking forward to following your blog (BTW, I studied cuisine at the Le Cordon bleu in Paris).

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 11, 2013 at 3:00 pm

        Lovely to meet you and thanks for popping by. Stopped for a taste of your strawberry meringue dessert and realised it's Mother's Day? I have some serious coaching and hint-dropping to do now until tomorrow! Merci xo

        Reply
    9. tony

      May 10, 2013 at 10:13 pm

      no lemon is tart, they're all pavlovas in disguise 🙂

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 11, 2013 at 2:59 pm

        Very clever, Tony 😀

        Reply
    10. Liz

      May 10, 2013 at 9:27 pm

      We love pavlova in the Berg household...and I need to whip one up as soon as the spring berries are ripe. Love the idea of adding lemon cream, too...delish! Glad you had a fun Scottish holiday 🙂 xo

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 11, 2013 at 2:58 pm

        Thanks, Liz. Sounds like your corner of the woods is late in springing, too! Wishing you beautiful ripe berries SOON!

        Reply
    11. Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen

      May 10, 2013 at 9:27 pm

      Well done on surviving the dungeons, Jill. I am glad you survived to magic the contents of your neglected fridge into these gorgous meringues.

      Love the Lily of the Valley too. I've never been able to grow it (I'm sure there is a garden legend that deals with this eventuality) but I have coincided with the distribution of muguet. Don't you just love that scent!

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 11, 2013 at 2:57 pm

        I am totally addicted to that scent, Hester. I wish we could bottle its magical feel-good factor.

        Reply
    12. The Mom Chef ~ Taking on Magazines One Recipe at a Time

      May 10, 2013 at 8:14 pm

      I sent my mom a digital bouquet of lily-of-the-valley via the blog on (or about...it was in The Sip) May 1st too. It made me smile to see you do it as well.

      I'm loving these lemony delicious nests! With head hung, I'll admit that I'm not a huge macaron fan, but I do love all things citrus, especially if they retain the tang. You've presented me with an upside-down lemon meringue pie. I love it!

      Reply
      • Jill

        May 11, 2013 at 2:56 pm

        I hear you! Wish we could make these digital muguets a scratch-and-sniff! Not a huge macaron fan? Och well, loving this will do. I suppose. Thanks for popping in!

        Reply

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