Strawberry Creme Fraiche Mini Pavlova

Strawberry and Creme Fraiche Mini Pavlovas

Mini pavlovas are an adorable, easy to make, gluten free and mess free crowd pleaser and because they are so elegant they are a lovely dessert to end a sit down meal. While most pavlova recipes use heavy cream, I love the nutty, tangy flavor of creme fraiche and it marries particularly well with the strawberries.

You can purchase mini pavlova shells in the Meringue Shop and if you live in the Bay Area you can certainly call us to order the entire dessert from Délice Glacé but I am hoping that this recipe and others that will follow, will give you the option of making your own fillings at home.

So first a history lesson about pavlova. Why? Because I'm a nerd and I love food history. So the Pavlova is a classic meringue dessert that is named for the Prima Ballerina Anna Pavlova. This dessert was originally served to her when she was on tour in Australia and New Zealand. Now here is the contentious part- both countries claim to have invented the dessert. I choose not to get in the middle of any meringue skirmishes but I can tell you that on my visit to New Zealand last year I had some pretty spectacular pavs (sorry no pics of the Pavlovas because we were too busy eating but here is a photo of us having a blast- thanks to @latitudesouthtravelcompany- this not a paid sponsorship). I was hoping to taste the Australian versions this year but a pesky pandemic has laid waste to those plans- just for now- not forever.

Zip lining in Rotorua New Zealand

Ingredients for Mini Pavlova filling:

Serve 3

1/4 Cup Creme fraiche

1 tbs confectioners' sugar

150 g fresh strawberries

50g fresh cherries

1 tbs sugar

Method:

Finely chop the strawberries and cherries.

Add the sugar to the strawberries and place in a small saucepan. Reserve the cherries.

Heat the mixture on medium heat just till you start to see some syrup forming and coating the berries. Remove from heat. Cool completely.

Add the cherries to the strawberry mixture and refrigerate.

Whip the creme fraiche with the confectioners' sugar.

Assemble the mini pavlovas (see video below). I like to add a little fruit mixture at the bottom and then alternate between fruit and cream. I used Wilton tip 1M to pipe the cream but fluffy dollops of it on the shells look really pretty too.

Serve immediately.

Eton Mess with Délice Glacé meringues

I can trace my love affair with meringues to my first bite of Eton Mess- that quintessential English dessert that is the perfect melange of plump, juicy strawberries, crunchy meringue and clouds of sweet whipped cream.

It was on a warm London evening in July some thirty odd years ago when my Aunt placed an enormous bowl for my cousin and me to share. Two spoons were plunged into the depths of a cool pink tinged fluff, that to the delight of my taste buds, was equal parts crunchy and smooth, sweet and sour. One bite and all my intentions of politely sharing this ethereal dessert were abandoned. I hope that my meringues and this easiest of dessert recipe can make you equally passionate about meringues and meringue desserts. This gluten free dessert comes together in mere minutes and is the perfect sweet end to a summer meal.

Ingredients:

Fresh Strawberries 100g

Fresh raspberries 100g

1/2 Cup heavy cream

1 bag Délice Glacé rose meringues

1 bag Délice Glacé Confetti Crunch Meringues

Method:

Makes five small servings.

Hull and chunk the strawberries

Crush three rose meringues to make meringue dust.

Macerate strawberries with rose meringue dust. Reserve rest of the rose meringues

Blend the raspberries to create a chunky raspberry sauce.

Whip the chilled cream.

Fold in the strawberries and three quarters of the raspberry sauce.

Fold in all the Confetti Crunch Meringues and the remaining rose meringues.

Serve immediately.

Lemon Meringue "Quarantini"

The world is at home and we all have to work with whatever it is that we have in abundance. In my case, that's always meringues. Besides, many of us have trees laden with lemons right now so this was really the perfect drink to make on this Friday that marks our 4 weeks of being in shelter.

I do recommend using a good quality limoncello in this recipe. My mother-in-law brought me a bottle from Villa Massa in Sorrento (from when we were all hopping across world borders like pieces on a chess board) and I've been dying to create something with this gorgeously fragrant liquor.

Clearly life has given us lemons right now so let us make a boozy lemon meringue drink. I'm not quite sure if this is a martini, all I know is that it tastes just like lemon meringue pie. Its pucker up tartness is off set by the sweetness of the meringue. The recipe is really just a guide so feel free to adjust to your taste. The quantities below serve two.

Ingredients:

2 oz vodka*

2 oz limoncello*

Juice of one large lemon

4 heaped tablespoons lemon curd

1 Cup ice cubes

6 Confetti Crunch Meringues

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and give them a good shake in a cocktail shaker.

Float three Confetti Crunch Meringues on your drink

If you have a blowtorch flame the meringues lightly to toast them just a bit.

*Can substitute with simple syrup