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Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

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Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

You’ve all been there.  Admit it.  You know, when you get a little too excited about all the summer fruit and berries and the farmer’s market and buy waaaaayyyyyy more that you and a family of 45.762 can possibly eat before it turns to a slimy mess in your fridge?  Yep.  I wouldn’t know anything about that.

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

I jest.  Seriously, we went a little crazy between the Costco and the farmer’s market with our ambitions of smoothie making as part of our dreams of weight loss and my pants fitting again.  As a side note to that, I can’t quite recall if I updated you on that front and told you I wore a suit to work last week I hadn’t been able to wear since last year.  That, my friends, is what we call hopeful progress around these parts. Woot!

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Any-hoo, I had an abundance of fruit and some leftover egg whites from a different recipe, so I decided a Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova was on the agenda.  And it has to be healthy and good for me because it has fruit, right?  Thanks for humoring me.  At least it’s high in fiber.

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

I’ve seen some summer fruit dessert pictures floating around the interwebs that look all pretty and fancy pants with fruit I imagine was painstakingly and perfectly arranged in organized patterns of beauty. Well, y’all know that just isn’t the way I roll.  I do not have the time or the patience for such shenanigans.  Don’t judge me.  I just made the meringue, whipped up some heavy cream to slap on top, and piled it high with the surplus of fruit hanging out in my fridge.  I put it in a deep dish pie plate in a rare moment of clarity, knowing that some of the fruit would roll off and would be better captured in the crevice around the edge than landing in an explosion on my hard tile floor.

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

I called that one right.  It happens every now and again.

 

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova
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Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Ingredients

For the Meringue

  • 4 egg whites
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

For the Topping

  • 2 peaches sliced
  • 2 kiwi peeled and sliced
  • 1 1/2 or so cups mixed berries
  • 1/2 cup fresh cherries pitted

For the Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180
  2. Add egg whites to bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment and whip on high for about 1 minute or until firm
  3. While mixer is still running on high, slowly add sugar and continue whipping for another 2 minutes or until you see shiny peaks
  4. Turn off mixer, sift in cornstarch, and fold in vanilla bean paste and vinegar
  5. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
  6. Turn out mixture onto parchment and spread into an even circular layer 9 - 10 inches wide
  7. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes, then turn off oven and leave in there for another 1.5 hours, turn over to cool completely on a wire rack
  8. Chill bowl and whisk attachment in freezer for 20 - 30 minutes
  9. Transfer heavy whipping cream, whisk on high, add sugar and vanilla bean paste
  10. Whip until stiff peaks form, 3 minutes or so - careful not to over whip or you will have butter!
  11. Transfer meringue to a platter
  12. Spread whipped cream over the top
  13. Arrange fruit and berries on top

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Chocolate Stout Cherry Tart with Honey and Vanilla Goat Cheese

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Obviously I have a thing for cherries lately.

 

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And beer.  But that’s not really a new thing, is it?  I just haven’t been able to help myself.  I keep seeing these big, beautiful bags of cherries everywhere I go!  It’s a compulsion or some sort of affliction.  Or is it an addiction?  I just start grabbing bags of cherries and throw them in my cart like some kind of crazed mad woman.

 

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Do not get in my way lady in the hoveround!  I will take you out!  Step away from my cherries!

Chris looks at me with the concern of a man standing next to his dangerous wife and is all “what are you going to do with so many cherries?” He also looks like he is contemplating diving under the produce shelves.

 

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And pah-leeze do NOT get me started on my booze in food addictions lately.  Seriously, I really really sincerely do have these uncontrollable compulsions to do weird stuff in my kitchen.  I grab some food then go down the beer aisle.  What?  Like that’s unusual?  It’s actually a bit more of a regular affair lately because we haven’t had time to brew.  Sigh…

 

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Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t mean to be hatin’ on store bought beer – so long as it’s legit craft beer made with love.  I just love brewing and there is something so exciting and satisfying about tossing a good home brew into whatever dish you happen to be making.  It just makes it that much more special.

 

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So this tart came to me in a vision while strolling down the beer aisle with a crazy lady amount of cherries in my cart and a momentary distraction when I had to slap Chris’s hand because he was EATING THE CHERRIES STRAIGHT FROM THE CART.  Sorry – I got a tad worked up there.

Anyhoo, I thought about chocolate and cherries, chocolate covered cherries, chocolate stout…it kind of went like that.  I also remembered that I also had a crazy lady amount of puff pastry dough in my freezer.  What?  You don’t? Hey man, don’t judge.  You never know when you might need to make a tart.

 

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So this is kind of a knock-off of my Roasted Beet and Pear Tart with Honey Whipped Feta, Clementine Vinaigrette, and Pistachios.

 

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Yeah.  Because I’m ridiculous.

 

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Chocolate Stout Cherry Tart with Honey and Vanilla Goat Cheese

Ingredients

  • 1 12 oz. bottle of chocolate stout craft beer I used Samuel Smith Organic
  • 2 lbs. approximately cherries, washed and pitted, stems removed
  • 1 puff pastry sheet
  • 6 oz goat cheese
  • 1 Tbs. honey
  • 1 Tbs. vanilla bean paste
  • handful fresh basil

Instructions

  1. Combine chocolate stout and cherries in a large Dutch oven or pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook until liquid is reduced and thick and cherries are soft, set aside to cool or refrigerate overnight
  2. Preheat oven to 400
  3. Lay puff pastry on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
  4. Cut a 1/2 inch edge around the pastry without cutting all the way through
  5. Using a fork poke holes all around the inside of the edge you just made - the edge will puff up and the inside will not
  6. Spread reduced cherry/beer mixture over the inside square of the puff pastry
  7. Bake 20 - 25 minutes until pastry is golden and puffed around the edges
  8. Remove from oven and let cool
  9. While tart is baking make the goat cheese by combining goat cheese, honey and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment
  10. Whip until combined and fluffy, a couple of minutes
  11. Transfer the goat cheese mixture to a zip top bag, cut a small piece of the corner (or use a pastry bag) and pipe onto the chocolate stout cherry tart
  12. Garnish with basil leaves