Raspberry Pistachio Mini Pavlovas

The first time I came across a pavlova was when I used to bake for a team of account people in my advertising agency days. It was my teammate's birthday and she was Australian so said her favorite dessert was the pavlova. Upon researching what a pavlova is, I learned that they are these amazingly delicious AND gluten free desserts that are egg white meringues topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit. I feel in love with them because they're pretty easy to play with once you get the ratios down for add-ins and then the toppings are endless! 

I love making really big ones for dinner parties or group occasions. You can also make mini/individual sized ones depending on how many people you're feeding or save the pavlova base and enjoy over 3-4 days! 

The only catch is once you assemble these desserts, they're quite delicate so will need to eat it right away. This won't be hard since once you take one bite, it will be difficult to resist. The incredible part about eating these desserts is they actually make you feel LIGHTER. It doesn't get better than that! 

For this recipe I went with pistachio and pomegranates because I love the colorfulness of this combo. It's so perfect for the holidays and delicious together!  You will need a mixer for this recipe and patience. These meringues bake off on a low temperature for about an hour, sometimes longer depending on your oven. You also don't want to make these in big batches unless your oven and mixer can withstand the capacity. 

Raspberry Pistachio Mini Pavlovas
Yields 5-6 individual 3.5" pavlovas. 

Pavlova Ingredients: 

  • 90g egg whites, room temp 
  • 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 150g white granulated sugar 
  • 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar 
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 2 cups raw, unsalted pistachios (the greener the better) 
  • 25g white chocolate, chopped 

Whipped Cream:

  • 2 cups whipping cream 
  • 1/4 cup créme fraché (optional)  
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Toppings:

  • Fresh seeds 1 large pomegranate 
  • Extra finely ground pistachios 
  • Honey 

Pavlova Base: 

1. Preheat oven to 355 F. On a piece of parchment paper, trace 3 or 3.5 inch circles spaced at least 2 inches apart with a pencil. Should be able to fit 4-5 of them comfortably on each baking sheet. I like to use cookie cutters or a smaller biscuit cutter as a stencil. Feel free to make them smaller if desired but limit to 2 sheets in the oven. 

2. Chop white chocolate into small pieces and set aside. Make sure they’re small enough to fit through your piping tip. Add your pistachio nuts into a food processor and process until fine. Careful not to go too far with the nuts as you do not want pistachio paste. Set aside chocolate and ground pistachio. 

3. Place room temp egg whites and cream of tartar in a stand mixer bowl with a whisk attachment. Whisk until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar one tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated and continue to beat until the egg whites become stiff and glossy. Don’t over beat the egg whites or they will separate. When you can hold the mixture upside down without it falling out, it’s done.

4. Add white wine vinegar, cornstarch, chopped white chocolate and ground pistachio. Using a large spatula, fold in ingredients very slowly and carefully. Don’t over mix or you will deflate the egg whites.

5. Using a little pavlova mixture, apply on the corners of the parchment paper (same side you drew on, then flip over parchment paper so it’s pencil side down on a baking sheet.

6. Add mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe into the circles and clean it up with an offset spatula. Make sure you are FILLING them completely when swirling. Don't want any air gaps in any of the shells. 

7.  Place piped pavlovas into oven on the middle racks, then immediate drop the temperature to 285F. Bake for 1hr to 1hr to 1hr 15 minutes until the outside of the shells are firm/dry. The way to tell when the Pavlova is done cooking is when it looks crisp at the edges. The tops will be dry but if you press on the underside it’ll give a little since the centers are still soft and squishy. If you tap them lightly they should also sound a little hollow.

8. Place the pavlova back in the oven and leave the door slightly ajar so the pavlovas can cool slowly to room temp in the oven. (Should take another 35 minutes) If you remove from a hot oven you run the risk of your shells deflating. Shells last up to 4 days in an air-tight container. 

9. When ready to eat, prepare your whipped cream. Add heavy cream, créme fraché, vanilla extract and sifted powder sugar into a chilled mixer bowl. If you're not using créme fraché, you'll still have lovely whipped cream but it's not as shelf stable in my opinion. 

10. Using a whisk attachment, whip on medium until you reach a soft peak. I like to mix the rest of my whipped cream by hand with a hand whisk so I can control the exact stiffness of the cream. You want a soft billowing whip but still firm enough to old it's shape and toppings without weeping. 

11. Top fully cooled pavlova base with a hefty dollop of vanilla whipped cream. Sprinkle on fresh pomegranate seeds, pistachio grounds and a touch of honey on each pavlova to your liking. Serve and consume immediately upon assembling. 

 

 

Grab-N-Go Granola Bars

I'm terrible at eating breakfast. :-/ I grew up with my mom always making me breakfast or something to grab on the way out the door because breakfast IS the most important meal of the day. However, when you love to sleep in as much as I do, I don't wake up till I actually have to with enough time to get ready and grab something on the way out. (Bad habit, I know.) 

I usually cave and buy boxes of granola snack bars so I have something easy to grab and go before I run out of the house, but either those are full of sugar or I'll have to splurge for the all natural bars that don't come cheap. This week, I'm making my own bars!! 

It's pretty easy to make these and I already had all the primary ingredients at home. Mix-ins with these bars are completely up to you! Choose the type of nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, etc. that you love and mix them in! :) 

First key to this recipe is to have really plump, juicy Medjool dates. I got my dates from CostCo which were pretty fresh but you can also find these at your local farmer's market. If your dates aren't fresh, make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes to rehydrate them. 

Next, toast your oats till they're nice and crunchy. I like to include honey, butter, a little brown sugar and salt with my oats. Toss them a few times in the oven to get a nice, even brown toasting on them. 

Let the toasted oats cool a bit so this is a great time to get started on the rest of your elements. Once you have all the pieces ready, place them all into a large mixing bowl and use your hands to incorporate all the elements.

Make sure you REALLY get in there so the dates and almond butter mixture gets distributed.This is the most important part because it's what will help keep the bars sticking together so don't be lazy!! Keep mixing and pressing the oats with your fingers until you can feel it sticking together. 

Press the mixture into a 8" x 8" square pan lined with parchment paper. Press together so it's all evenly distributed on the bottom. Use a piece of plastic wrap to make sure it's really firmly set. 

The last step is to chill then cut!! After 40 minutes you'll have delicious Grab-n-Go bars!! Thanks to these, I'll never skip breakfast again! :) 

Gluten Free Grab-N-Go Granola Bars 
Makes 8 x 4" Rectangle Bars

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats 
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed 
  • 2 large pinches of kosher salt
  • 1/8 cup clover honey 
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups of fresh Medjool dates 
  • 1/8 cup honey 
  • 1/4 cup almond butter 

Other Mix-Ins: 

  • 1/2 cup-3/4 cup of raw unsalted nuts (I used rough chopped Macadamia nuts) 
  • 1 cup dried golden raisins 
  • Other optional items: Flax seed, other dried fruit like cranberries, cherries, chocolate chips, etc. Note, the more you add for dries, you may need more dates/honey to stick together.  

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  In a small saucepan on medium heat, add butter and honey and melt until the two are incorporated. In a medium bowl, add rolled oats, brown sugar and salt. Pour the honey butter over the oats and mix together very well so oats are properly coated.

2. Transfer the coated oats on a small rimmed baking sheet. I used a quarter sized sheet. Toast until golden brown. Stir the oats every 10 minutes to ensure they brown evenly. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan when you achieve the golden brown color. 

3. While the oats are toasting, work on preparing the other elements. Add the dates into a food processor and puree until it becomes a large ball. You want this to be mushy and pureed throughly.  

4. In the same small saucepan you used before, add almond butter and honey. Place on a low heat and mix until you can stir easily with a spatula. Make sure you don't over cook this! Set aside. 

5. Place your mix-ins, slightly cooled toasted oats, almond butter mixture and pureed dates into the same medium bowl you used to mix the oats. Using your hands, mix all the elements together VERY WELL! Press the oat mixture through your fingers and keep mixing until the dates and almond butter has been throughly incorporated. This is what will allow your mixture to stick together so keep mixing until it can easily be squeezed into a ball of your hands. 

6. Line an 8" x 8" square baking pan with parchment paper. Add the mixture into the pan and press firming and evenly across the bottom of the pan. Use a piece of plastic wrap to press down the mixture evenly. I've also used the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to ensure it's pressed in. 

7. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes or freezer for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment from the pan and cut into even bars. Wrap separately with plastic and enjoy within 5 days.