Personal Pavlova

It was Jody’s 61st  birthday last month – I offered to cook dinner – and came up with this dessert. It’s easily transportable; that was a factor as I prepped ahead and took it to her house.

I made the meringue shells the night before. I used a regular recipe for one big pavlova but piped small 4-5” rounds by making a fat coil, then piped some sides on them, around the edges. I also piped little meringue toppers. I baked them, cooled them and stored in an air-tight container. The next day I took the whipping cream, fresh fruit and assembled and plated it just before dinner, and held it in the fridge until dessert.

So pretty. I had some chocolate mint growing in the garden (it’s wonderful for desserts), so I picked some of those leaves for decoration. I spied some ribbon on the counter I had recently bought and thought it went perfectly with the kiwi….that lead me to add the chocolate chip “polka dots”.

After quite a heavy meal, it was a delightfully light treat. I love the textures of crunchy meringue and smooth whipped cream, and the chewy in-between as some of the meringue softens from the moisture of the cream and berries….and it was a nice birthday party “look”.