All Ovah Pavlova

Once upon a time there was a Russian ballerina named Anna.

Tropical Passion Fruit White Chocolate Pavlova

Mixing some edible pearl lustre dust with almond extract and painting it on the pavlovas caused some kind of chemical reaction that mottled the beautiful, smooth shells.  If you want to lustre dust your pavlovas, just brush it on dry.

She was so dainty, delicate and light on her toes, that when she danced on a tour through Australia and New Zealand, they came up with a dessert to honor her; a dessert that was light, feminine and delicate, but sweet and filling at the same time.

Have you ever had a meringue cookie? Well, Pavlovas are sort of a fancy and larger version of the meringue cookie via a crispy, crumblier, melt-in-your-mouth shell. BUT, a soft fluffy, marshmallow-like interior is where it differs from a meringue cookie, but in such an oh so good way.

That said, pavlovas can be filled with pretty much anything, but softly whipped cream with various berries seems to be the most popular and authentic way it’s served down under. I’m willing to bet that in order to remain light and delicate on her toes, Anna wasn’t eating too many cream filled pavlovas, and boy was she missing out! If someone named a dessert after me, I’d be scarfing it down like a champ, as long as they rolled me to each destination. Here’s a good question –  If given the choice, which would you prefer: a dish, whether it be sweet or savory, created for and named after you, or a song written for and about you?

Chocolate Pavlova Tart with Fresh Fruit and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse 

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.

TWO AMAZING PAVLOVA RECIPES! Tropical Passion Fruit White Chocolate Pavlova and Chocolate Pavlova Tart with Chocolate Mascarpone Mascarpone Mousse and Fresh Fruit

At first, I wanted to make an authentic pavlova, but, of course, with a twist because it ain’t me if it ain’t got a twist (I think it’s an OCD). Since I’d never made a pavlova before, but know my way around all kinds of meringue preparations, I felt pretty confident I’d be able to pull it off.  Thanks to my pal, Audax, who provided the Daring Bakers with an authentic recipe that everyone was raving about, I was able to do just that.

BUT, Francois Payard is one of my favorite pastry chefs, so I had to make the recipe from his book that was provided to us. Every component, word for word, would be emulated, especially since his lovely creations cost an arm, a leg and maybe an eyeball. His showroom, which is a mouth-watering and gorgeous feast for the eyes, is one of the prettiest patisseries in NYC.

Chocolate Cream Cheese or Mascarpone Mousse for Chocolate Pavlova Tart or lovely on its own as a mousse dessert!Perfect Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse…..before I murdered it.

Since I didn’t dig into this challenge until the last minute, things didn’t go as planned. I decided to bake the chocolate pavlova in a tart pan.  Great idea, right? Well, sort of.  You see, one characteristic of a perfect pavlova is that the outer shell cracks and crumbles a bit after being baked and cooled. This is a good thing palate wise, but not a good thing aesthetically, which counts when you’re a food blogger. I got the perfect tart pan ridges, but as it should have, it separated and crumbled a bit, so it really didn’t look like the meringue tart shell I was hoping for.

TWO AMAZING PAVLOVA RECIPES! Tropical Passion Fruit White Chocolate Pavlova and Chocolate Pavlova Tart with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse and Fresh Fruit

Where I really screwed up was on the chocolate mascarpone mousse.  Initially, I didn’t screw up, since it turned out perfect; silky, creamy chocolate heaven. BUT, I made it a day ahead and refrigerated it, so when it came time to assemble my dessert, the mousse was firm (due to the mascarpone cheese solidifying in the cold fridge, which is normal).  I didn’t have time to let it come to room temperature so I could stir it gently back into its luscious, silky self, so I decided to take a beater to it, momentarily forgetting about the mascarpone cheese in it.

Mascarpone cheese breaks when over-beaten, and it had already been beaten lightly prior to refrigerating it. The extra beating, which was a lot of beating since I needed it soft for piping, turned my smooth and silky mousse into a grainy mess. It still tasted great and was surprisingly smooth on the tongue, but it looked like shit. I had planned to cover it with fruit anyway, so now I just needed to cover all of it with fruit, and loads of fruit!

TWO AMAZING PAVLOVA RECIPES! Tropical Passion Fruit White Chocolate Pavlova and Chocolate Pavlova Tart with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse and Fresh Fruit

By this time I’m frustrated, so I made a mess of the fruit. Instead of the perfectly symmetrical slices of papaya and mango that I envisioned in a beautiful concentric circle, I ended up slicing away haphazardly, slimy fingers squishing the fruit, leaving me with uneven chunks and slices that I layered on the tart sloppily. As my frustration increased, I shoved a piece here and another piece there, making it even worse. In the meantime, my grainy mousse started to ooze over the side, encapsulating the meringue tart shell like a snake unhinging its jaw and sucking down its dinner.

My chocolate pavlova was now drooping and sinking, exactly like the robot kid’s face in AI- Artificial Intelligence when he ate spinach (I think I’m the only person in the world who actually liked that movie).

Even after all of this, and even though I’m not a huge chocolate on chocolate person, it still tasted great (you know how some recipes are called “Better than Sex ..whatever”? Welll, not only is this mousse better than sex, but I’m going to get weird and call it ‘better than the best sex on the internet mousse!’

The mascarpone cream with the creme anglaise base was exquisite, so I’m dumping the leftover creme anglaise in my ice cream maker as soon as I get this tardy post up!

TWO AMAZING PAVLOVA RECIPES! Tropical Passion Fruit White Chocolate Pavlova and Chocolate Pavlova Tart with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse and Fresh Fruit

I had a much better aesthetic result with the authentic pavlova recipe. I made pavlova snowballs, and not just any pavlova snowballs, but pearl luster dusted pavlova snowballs filled with white chocolate chantilly cream, passion fruit curd, little spheres of papaya and champagne mango (use a melon baller), which is the best mango ever, and chopped pistachio nuts. I used a regular sized ice cream scoop to form  perfect, fluffy, glossy meringue balls, pressing the back of a slightly wet spoon into each ball to make a well for fillings.

For the pearly look (which you can’t really see in the photos), I mixed some pearl luster/lustre (whichever) dust with a little almond extract and brushed it lightly over each ball after they baked and cooled. Come to think of it, I don’t think the almond extract was needed because some kind of chemical reaction between the meringue and extract took place, giving my pavlova snowballs a mottled look and pinkish hue. Brushing it on dry probably would have been better.

Live and learn.

For the recipe for Francois Payard’s Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse and Mascarpone Creme Anglaise, click HERE.

For my Chocolate Pavlova Tart with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse and Fruit, place all the chocolate pavlova meringue from the chocolate pavlova meringue recipe at the Daring Kitchen, linked above, in a 9-inch tart pan and bake as directed in the recipe. Fill the chocolate pavlova shell with all the chocolate mascarpone mousse and your favorite fruits, drizzling it with the mascarpone creme anglaise in the recipe at Daring Kitchen, also linked above.

TWO AMAZING PAVLOVA RECIPES! Tropical Passion Fruit White Chocolate Pavlova and Chocolate Pavlova Tart with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse and Fresh FruitSince fresh passion fruit is currently unavailable in my area, I used the above frozen passion fruit pulp, and it lent extraordinary flavor to the curd. As fresh as you can get with frozen.

Best Pavlova Recipe

Chocolate Mascarpone (or cream cheese) Mousse
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: 4 to 8 servings, depending on size of serving vessel
 
ingredients:
  • 1½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream
  • 9 ounces (255 grams) good quality chocolate, (milk, semisweet, or bittersweet, your call) chopped
  • 1⅔ cups (390 mls) mascarpone cheese (I've made this using cream cheese instead of the mascarpone and it's just as good - use 1 bar plus ½ bar of cream cheese (12 oz), softened)
  • small pinch of nutmeg (optional)
directions:
  1. Place ½ cup of the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.
  2. Place the mascarpone (or cream cheese), the remaining cup of cream, and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low speed for 1 minute until the mascarpone mixture is loose. Do not over beat, as the mascarpone (if using cream cheese, it will be ok) will break. Mix about a quarter of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated.
  3. Serve immediately as is, or refrigerate, covered, until you’re ready to assemble your pavlova(s) or serve to guests as is (in a pretty glass or bowl) at a later time. If you refrigerate it for a long time..the mousse will firm up. Do not beat it. Let it come to room temperature then stir it gently and serve.

Pavlova Snowballs with Passion Fruit Curd, Mango, Papaya, Pistachios, and White Chocolate Chantilly
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: 6 to 8 Pavlova Snowballs
 
Chill Time for Curd: Several hours to Overnight
Oven Dry for Pavolva Snowballs: 1 hour
ingredients:
Pavlova Snowballs
  • 4 egg whites
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch, sifted
  • passion fruit curd (recipe follows)
  • white chocolate chantilly cream (recipe follows)
  • 6 to 8 balls of fresh papaya -use a melon scoop
  • 6 to 8 balls of fresh mango - use a melon scoop
  • chopped pistachios
Passion Fruit Curd
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup fresh passion fruit pulp, OR frozen passion fruit pulp, pureed
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
White Chocolate Chantilly Cream
  • 3 ounces good quality white chocolate, very finely chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
directions:
Make the Pavolva Snowballs
  1. In a clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Start adding the sugar, ¼ cup at a time until you've used it all up. Keep beating until stiff peaks have formed.
  2. Add the vinegar, vanilla and sifted cornstarch and just beat until it is incorporated. Preheat the oven to 225F.
  3. On a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet, using an ice cream scoop, scoop 6 to 9 (depending on the size of your scoop) meringue snowballs of the meringue onto the sheet, about 1-inch apart. Lightly wet the back of a spoon or the ice cream scoop (I use a damp paper towel) and press into the top of each snowball with it to make wells, cleaning off and lightly wetting the back of the spoon or ice cream scoop again for each one.
  4. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let sit in the closed oven for another hour.
Make the Passion Fruit Curd
  1. In the top of a double boiler or a metal or glass bowl. whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, passion fruit puree, salt, and lemon juice until combined. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water (if not using a double-boiler), making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
  2. Cook over simmering water 8-10 minutes, whisking constantly, or until mixture thickens and you can draw a line through it on the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Immediately pour and scrape the hot curd into a strainer and press it through the strainer into a new bowl to remove any possible bits of cooked yolk or passion fruit pulp.
  3. Stir the butter into the strained curd, one tablespoon at a time, until each tablespoon is melted. Press plastic wrap on top of curd and let come to room temperature. Once at room temperature, place in the fridge and chill for at least 3 hours. When time to assemble the pavolvas, give it a good stir to loosen it up a little.
Make the White Chocolate Chantilly Cream
  1. Heat the cream on in a sauce pan over medium heat until it starts to boil. Pour over chopped white chocolate in a bowl. Let sit for 1 minute.
  2. Stir the cream and white chocolate until combined and no lumps remain. Let come to room remperature than cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until cold.
  3. Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Assemble Pavlovas
  1. When ready to serve, fill each snowball with passion fruit curd and white chocolate chantilly cream, then top each one with 1 or 2 papaya balls and 1 or 2 mango balls. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

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Decadent, perfect chocolate cream cheese )or mascarpone) mousse by acclaimed pastry chef Francois Payard. This mousse is one of the best things I've ever made and tasted! #mousse #chocolatemousse #creamcheese #mascarpone #FrancoisPayard
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67 Responses to All Ovah Pavlova

  1. Rosa says:

    Lovely! I really love that big pavlova tart. So beautiful! Very well done, my friend!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  2. Lisa you are the LOVE of my life pavlova is very special to people Down Under and your take on it is wondrous. Both versions are exquisite but I adore your pav balls that is a delightful adaptation you are such a genius at baking new, clever and creative recipes on a theme. I have been hanging out for your post how for a day now. As always your interpretations are so sublime and so visually arresting. KUDOS to you and bravo bravo bravo on your fabulous results.

    Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

  3. trissalicious says:

    It takes talent and patience to be able to crank out two perfect but different pavlovas – where do you find the time?! They both look amazing – my favourite would have to be your version, Lisa.

  4. ingrid says:

    LOL, true to Lisa “form” you went above and beyond the challenge and am much too critical of yourself. Both pavlovas look amazing and I’m ecstatic to see a non chocolate one! YAY! I want that recipe. I’ve never made, let along had a pavlova and I can see I’m seriously missing out. Share, Lisa Michele!

    Hey! And where’s my return phone call, Miss?!
    ~ingrid

  5. Lindsay says:

    I think the fruit tart looks so gorgeous! You’re too hard on yourself!!!!

    Nice work!

  6. chef_d says:

    Can I be greedy and have both food and song named after me :)) Wow both versions of pavlova are really gorgeous! They both look so pretty! The fruits don’t look squished and uneven at all…and I loved AI too 🙂 Excellent job!

  7. Dan says:

    Simply gorgeous. As I travel through Europe and especially France I haven’t seen anything to top what you have done. Beautiful pictures – I must concurr you are way too hard on yourself you are very talented. Well done!

  8. Lori says:

    I have some passionfruit curd in my freezer at this very moment. Yum!

    Your pavlova is stunning!

  9. What a beautiful POST! Two pavolovas – and gorgeous photos. I make pavlova A LOT. I have never made a chocolate one. I have to make the Passion Fruit Curd. OH MY! SWOOOOOON…. we could eat one between us at our house.
    🙂
    Valerie

  10. Esi says:

    I’m kind of obsessed with your rainbow of fruits on the chocolate pavlova. I need to make this one…just have to remember where I put the recipe 🙂

  11. FOODESSA says:

    Lisa…I’ve said this before and I’ll gladly say it again…you are one talented baker. I hope you believe that too ;o)

    With all the great seasonal fruits we have lately…this dessert will have to be blessed on my sweets table soon.

    Flavourful wishes,
    Claudia

  12. Jessica says:

    Those came out just too pretty. Both of them. The rainbow fruit on top never gets old- it will always be pretty (even to hide jacked up mousse!) But I love your authentic pavlovas. So pretty and what a nice idea with lustre dust!

    Great job!!

  13. Elle says:

    If you need to cover up some mousse that turned, there is hardly a better way than with lucious multi-colored fruit. The authentic pavlovas are beautiful and I love the fillings!

  14. shaz says:

    Stunning Lisa! Love that multicoloured fruit effect – what are you talking about, it looks fantastic. And the baby snowball pavs are so gorgeous too. You always go the extra mile, great job.

  15. Renata says:

    I had exactly the same problem with the mousse. You turned it into such a gorgeous colored fruit pavlova… I’m drooling over it! And your individual one is just superb! You did a great, great job! Thanks for your kind comments on mine!

  16. Laura says:

    Fabulous, Lisa, absolutely fabulous!! I also had a problem with the mousse seizing up after looking lovely. But, you would never know you had any of the issues you bravely confess to from looking at your perfect desserts. The fruit rainbow on the chocolate pav really gives it the colorful visual lift it needs.
    But, my favorite is your own pavlova. It really is stunning. I was just mulling over the possibility of using luster or sparkle on the meringue, and you read my mind and showed how it looks (which is great). But, that combination of tropical flavors! Love it. And I love how you carried through the pearl theme with the fruit balls, too. I also couldn’t find passion fruit–wish I thought of frozen!
    Oh, and I definitely would prefer a dessert named after me.

  17. Aparna says:

    So which one of your pavs is not aesthetic to look at? I can’t see it.
    Hey, haven’t you heard of rustic? Especially when there’s fruit?

    Seriously I think you pavs look good, Lisa. Anna Pavlova missed a lot alright. But then she might not have been able to dance again. LOL

    If someone wnated to name something after me, I would prefer a savoury dish unless it was something chocolate! 😉

  18. Leslie says:

    As usual, I’m exhausted after reading your post! Maybe it’s because I just finished my marathon macaron post (my first macs ever, made from Payard’s recipe!) I look at your photos and don’t see what you think you did wrong?!? Your fruit tart is glorious and I like how the pavlova looks…the tart pan is a great effect. I made the same mistake refrigerating the chocolate mousse I made from Payard’s book. It was delicious but did look unfortunate.

  19. Lisa thank you for the kind comments on my blog I concur with most comments you are too harsh on yourself your creations are superb if not über-excellent you did a marvellous job on this challenge I wish I could get pear lustre here in Sydney Australia to make the perfect pav like yours. You are a genius on these challenges. Audax.

  20. I agree, you’re much too hard on yourself. Either than, or you are a genius with trick photography because I can’t find a flaw anywhere – gorgeous, gorgeous! I want Keith Urban to write a song about me and send me front row tickets to his concert so he can sing it to me!

  21. Evan says:

    Absolutely beautiful challenge! I love the way you used fruit- I should have included something healthy, but all that chocolate was too hard to pass up 🙂 And for the record if a dish was to be named after me it would absolutely be sweet for sure 🙂

  22. Sirius73 says:

    Love the colourful big pavlova – bet it tasted great!

  23. marcellina says:

    Two beautiful pavlovas!!! I love the fruit on your choc pav! Actually as I was reading through the post I had to go back and look at the photo to see what you meant about the fruit. I thought, this girl is crazy that fruit looks fantastic! I do love the pavlova snowballs – something I (in the tropics) would never have thought of but I think I’ll have to use your idea some time! Yes, I did have problems with the mousse it only look ok in the pic because I piped it as soon as I made it. The next day – disaster! Anyway, yours was beautiful on the day you made it and still looked devine with the fruit on it! What brilliant work!

  24. Natalie says:

    Wow your daring bakers challenges are always completed so well, your pavlovas look so good mm!

  25. GourmAndrea says:

    I love your fruit “bouquet”. I would prefer a song written about me, what about you?

    • lisamichele says:

      Well..it depends on how good the song or dessert is! Probably a song since it’s poetry as opposed to gluttony, although gluttony is not a bad thing at all! lol

  26. Jenni says:

    Lovely job Lisa! You cannot tell at all that you were frustrated at the end – everything you do is always beautiful!

  27. Mary says:

    Yum–these look amazing! Your challenge recipe is beautiful, but I was sold on mention of passion fruit! I use the frozen stuff too, and love the curd. Now I want to make another!

  28. Linda V says:

    I think the flan looks amazing and i would never have noticed that the fruit wasn’t perfect, until you brought my attention to it. Lovely just as it is.

  29. MrJackhonky says:

    OK, I thought your chocolate pavlova with the fruit was STUNNING and GORGEOUS! I think everyone’s their own worst critic though! Personally I was TOTALLY annoyed with my own attempt at the challenge, and completely dissatisfied with the way it came out. But oh well.

    On the other hand, yours looks picture perfect to me! The rainbow colors of fruit on top are SO vivid and luscious!

    it’s funny you mention the lustre dust. I’ve had mixed results with lustre dust. I made the mistake of using silver lustre dust once and it just looked like some of the pan had scrapped out onto my cake. Ugly. But gold lustre dust just looks fantastic when I use in chocolate creations. I wish gold leaf wasn’t so expensive, I’d probably use that more often…

    Oh, and I didn’t hate AI. Didn’t love it either, but didn’t hate it. I just think Stanley Kubrick would have done a significantly better job than Steven Spielberg….

  30. Sophie says:

    I am not fond of pavlova but you are twisting it here with your passionfruit curd!!
    I am a chocolate girl! I prefer the chocolate mascarpone, but not on a pavlova!

    That’s what I love!!

  31. What are you talking about? The layered fruit on the chocolate pavlova looks great! And, the snowballs with passion fruit curd are delightful.

  32. Pat says:

    Lisa it was so good to hear from you and thank you for your nice comments! I tasted Pavlova for the first time on a trip to Ireland and brought the recipe home as one of my treasured souvenirs. I’ve made it many times since but never tried a chocolate version and your creative touches of making meringue balls filled with mango curd look absolutely divine! I love how you think out of the box when you do these challenges!

    I scrolled through your blog to see all the wonderful Daring Bakers/Cooks challenges that I’ve missed out on. I’m going to have to try so many of them!

    I can’t believe the Yankees lost two games to Seattle this week but they always seem to find the last place teams their nemesis for some reason. Let’s hope they can hang on!

    xx oo Pat

  33. Nachiketa says:

    2 pavs… amazing…
    the rainbow of fruits is looking so yummy 🙂

    cheers,
    The Variable, Crazy Over Desserts – Nachiketa
    Catch me on facebook @ Crazy Over Desserts

  34. I hardly noticed that you have the oozing mousse and uneven fruit slices episode. All I can say that it is beautiful and you got it well preplanned. I mean who would actually think about arranging the fruits in such color harmony?

    Love both versions of your pavlova executions. And having the passion fruit curd on the sweet pavlova creates great taste sensation, love it!

  35. bunkycooks says:

    LOL! I was smiling the whole time I read your pavlova story. We both had a a little bit of a real challenge with this dessert, but I am sure it was delicious (as was mine) all the same! I liked the mousse when it was refrigerated. It had a texture almost like ice cream. The fruit looks delicious with the pavlova. Yum!

  36. Rysheda says:

    (Did not realize the comment button was at the top, as opposed to the bottom. Please disregard the post on the Daring Cooks Challenge 🙂

    Looking at your desserts I almost licked my computer screen! Your fruit covered pavlova looks wonderful and delicious. I also like the photography of the smaller individual pavlovas. My horrible photography skills would not do justice to such fabulous desserts! Great job with this challenge!

  37. Oggi says:

    The fruit tart pavlova is exquisite! The little ones are equally beautiful too.:)

  38. Chantel says:

    I think your pavs turned out beautiful!

  39. I think your pavlovas are lovely. I adore all those pretty colours. But I think we are all our own worst critics. I am pretty harsh on my own cooking. Anyways, have a fabulous 4th daaaaaahling.
    *kisses* HH

  40. ana says:

    Lisa,

    Thank you for your kind words.
    Your pavlova looks so beatiful and fresh! Very very nice blog and pictures!

    hugs

    ana

  41. Maya says:

    Your pavlovas are beautiful! Love the tip about Goya passion fruit pulp; there’s a great Latin market near me, so I’ll have to buy some!

  42. Chef Dennis says:

    what an incredible pavlova!! your presentation is magnificent….I don’t see anything wrong with the fruit!

  43. LC says:

    Hi Lisa!
    Your pav is really lovely and I feel for you about the mousse (did the same mistake).
    But it still look wonderful!

  44. sadaf says:

    Hi Lisa,
    Thanks for Your kind words on my pav post and I must say you done well with this Challenge white individual serving looks sooo cute and pav tart looks elegant .. but both look delicious. bravo

  45. simply.food says:

    Pavlova looks wonderful.So beautifully created and lovely clicks.Thankyou for dropping by simply.food. Your visit and comments are very inspiring and much appreciated.

  46. Erica says:

    Tres jolie!! Love the rainbow of fruits!

  47. Scott says:

    Nicely done, Miss Lisa! Hope you saved some for me!

  48. Suz says:

    It’s beautiful! I think the fruit topping (+ everything else) looks great. I love your teeny pavs too. You know when you look at a picture and can almost taste it? Well, they taste fantastic. 😀

    I had the same issue with the chocolate mousse, though I wonder if chilling might have improved mine. I must have done something wrong because mine looked like shi*t to begin with! And like you I mean that literally.

    Dessert over song, I reckon.

  49. It’s too bad this was a frustrating challenge for you. I can almost hear your grrrrrrrs. But despite you struggles, it looks fantastic. And your description of the white pavlovas sounds even more amazing. I still have to buy some of that white chocolate powder!

  50. Evelyne says:

    Definitely to hard on yourself – although I can relate. I think you did a fab job. I also left the mixture in the fridge overnight..popped it in the microwave. The fruit circles are stunning.

  51. BitterSweet says:

    Wow! This is easily the most beautiful rainbow of colors I’ve ever seen. I would have never known there was any frustration behind your pavlova, it looks utterly perfect- And completely delicious! And since you loaded it up with fresh fruit, it’s practically health food, right? 😉

  52. Simone says:

    O Lisa… you always manage to make me laugh when reading your posts. You can so vividly describe what went wrong, that I feel I am in the kitchen with you watching..lol… Having said that; for something that wasn’t exactly how you envisioned it, I think the endresult still looks gorgeous and very very tasty!

  53. Juliana says:

    Wow, all the versions of pavlova look awesome, the color and the flavors are just amazing…as always Lisa, you done a great job!

  54. Bri says:

    I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and I must say that your presentation and style surpass alot of the other sites I’ve seen. Kudos!

  55. Jamie says:

    First thing: WOWEE! Both of your incredible edible pavlova desserts are fabulously beautiful! My fork is ready! But *whew* after reading your post I am exhausted. As I usually am following your incredible kitchen antics. And I must say that you are much too modest, my dear! These are both perfect! Perfect! The circles are fruit are beautiful as is the white puffy meringues. Heavenly divine! And for a last minute rush job, well they are so much prettier than mine!

  56. Summer says:

    Gurl, ur a genius!!’

    Well am sure u can have a book with all ur super daring bakers creations!!!

    Well what u wrote doesnt match ur pic, i looked hard for all those ”faults” u talk about and found none!!
    Atleast am on a screen, if i was there, eyes shut, i would be lost in this delicious ecstasy!!
    And i still find it perfect beautiful!!

    I dont know if did reply earlier , i know i did come around to ur world but since i have a comp prob, it does hang alot!!

    YEah curves are back and how:-))

    And whatever ,wherever ur , we love our Lisa, jus that way!!!

    Hugs >>…

  57. Zita says:

    The chocolate pavlova is just amazing… can’t belive you made two kinds of pavlova… but wait… I do belive because it’s you who I’m talking about:)

  58. Jacque says:

    Oh my, I haven’t gotten to this one yet, but you’ve certainly inspired me. That chocolate and fruit pavlova looks incredible… love the colors!

  59. Anita says:

    Lovely pavlovas. It’s great you made two different types, I still haven’t made a traditional pav…

  60. Sue says:

    Lisa, I would be SO HAPPY if any of my DB creations looked even a teeny bit as beautiful as yours! You put so much effort and thought into these pavlovas and they look FABULOUS!Oh how I would love to try that chocolate version! YUM! Beautiful photos too!

    Hmmm, I think I would like a dish named after me:)

  61. suezumout says:

    Your dishes ALWAYS turn out so beautifully! You could frame the chocolate and fruit pavlova.

  62. I’ve been browsing blogs for a perfect filling for profiteroles – I’m bored of the same old whipped cream – and came across this post. The white chocolate creme chantilly sounds amazing, but what I really want is that pavlova, yum!

  63. Pingback: Luscious and EASY Chocolate Cream Cheese Mousse. Only 3 ingredients! - Zuzi Cooks

  64. Jeana says:

    I was thrilled at your Artificial Intelligence reference. I thought I was the only person in the world who loved that movie. PS The chocolate mousse is to die for. THANK YOU from the bottom of my bowl. My mixing bowl.

    • Lisa says:

      Oh, I’m so glad you loved it too, Jeana! I could never understand why it didn’t get the raves most other Speilberg movies do. In fact, I bawled my eyes out when Monica left David and Teddy in the woods, and I was completely riveted throughout the whole movie. I’m going to be watching it again this weekend! That being said; I’m so glad you loved the mousse! Francois Payard is genius, but his stuff is very $$$, so to be able to make it at home is a real treat! I could eat that mousse off a dirty floor!! lol

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