Sunday, June 27, 2010

Pav-love-a

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I completed my 2nd challenge as a "Daring Baker" and it was not only fun, but also super rich and delicious.  For all of you chocolate lovers out there, I highly recommend this chocolate mousse, as well as the crunchy/crisp pavlova.  The pavlova is a traditional Australian dessert and can be had in various forms of meringue, but is usually topped with some sort of cream and berries.  While generally not being a fan of overly sweet meringues, this chocolate pavlova recipe, with the addition of Callebaut cocoa powder, is truly decadent.  Making the pavlova is actually quite simple with only 4 ingredients: egg whites, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder.  Here is the "batter" before piping into rounds on parchment paper:



The entire batter could be formed into one cake shape round or piped into individual servings, which is what I did:


I then tried my hand at making homemade mascarpone to add to the mousse, and it was easier than I thought.  
Here is how you can do it.  I had trouble with using the indirect heating method, and ended up putting my bowl right on top of the burner with a low flame.  Even with the slight technique alteration, it turned out thick and creamy the next morning!  The mascarpone also was added to a creme anglaise as a drizzling sauce over the chocolate dessert.  

Since I had plentiful strawberries from Shepherd Farms I again topped the dessert with a fanned out strawberry.  Mmm...delish!  


A bonus is having leftovers, including enough mascarpone cream to make an ice cream.  Jason and I enjoyed parfaits layered with the mouse, mascarpone ice cream, crumbled pavlovas, and strawberries!  I think we have enough for one more parfait tonight...hooray!

For the recipe, click here.

6 comments:

  1. Sorry all! I am having technical difficulties and cannot figure out how to get the text to all be the same size after I "publish" this. Oh well. Enjoy regardless :)

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  2. Heather... let's make pavlovas this summer, I have always wanted to! I have learned that one way to enjoy summer berries is a version of a berry fool - fresh whipped cream, plenty of berries and crushed meringue cookies folded in for added texture. I confess, for this quick dessert I used the vanilla meringue cookies from TJ's, but the whipped creme I whisked with love and usually added some triple sec or rasp liqueur, sometimes even a little lemon zest for a light citrus note.

    I have a great meringue cookie recipe - from Emily Luchetti of Stars - that I adore. We can make those when we are together, too. Maybe chocolate chip cookies (with orange and walnuts), lemon coconut bars, and definitely late night crepes!

    Missing you and our time in the kitchen together...

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  3. The photos say it all a wondrous result and using berries is inspired. Lovely that it worked out so well for you and check out my blog for the classic Aussie pav recipe it is very different from this one but still a superb summer time with a berry/fruit/cream topping. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

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  4. @Kelley - You are making me drool! Cooking and baking with you is always a treat...looking forward to it!

    @Audax - thank you for your kind comments, and coming from an Australian, it is a true compliment. I definitely want to try your classic Aussie pav recipe...your pictures look amazing!

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  5. Everything turned out perfectly! Your pavs are cute, delicious, and the strawberry was a wonderful choice!

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  6. Renata, I just saw your comment, so thank you! Always a bonus to have something that both looks good and tastes delicious, too :)

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