Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Daring Bakers make chocolate pavlova!

Lots of pictures and not so many words today. I'm sure many of you are grateful! I made this challenge only days after it was revealed, which is very unusual for me. As I didn't write it up then, I can't remember much. What I do remember is that it was delicious, and I took it on a picnic along with the Daring Cooks' challenge of pâté and bread. This pav wasn't exactly what I think about for a picnic dessert, but it was certainly good. Even though I'm not a big fan of chocolate, the chocolate-mascarpone mousse was rich and delicious. The meringues were nice and crisp, and the crème anglaise-mascarpone-Amaretto mixture was the most amazing dessert sauce ever. 
I made a vanilla meringue, as chocolate on chocolate does not appeal. I'm glad I did, because this was already an incredibly rich dessert. I garnished with some wonderful organic cherries I had found on sale that morning. They were the reason I decided to make this dessert on a very busy day, what with the pâté and bread I was already making. 
I had fun piping the meringue and mousse in swirls. This is the sauceless version I packed up for the picnic, so we could add it at the last moment. I may even have tried to lick the jar it was in. The one I kept right-side-up travelled surprisingly well. 
They looked just like this on our picnic. In our minds' eye, anyway. But, I still had a few baked meringue bases left over, so a few days later, on a very cloudy and rainy day, I put together a blackberry curd pavlova with the curd left from these shortcakes. Click on the link for the curd recipe. It was a perfect combination, though the colour looks a bit weird in the gray light.
A few days after that, with my move date looming, I thought I had better use up some of the egg whites that were still in the fridge. This time I made a soft, marshmallowy meringue in the true pavlova style. There was lots of discussion in the forums about whether a crisp meringue was actually a pavlova, but I just stayed out of it and kept baking. I topped this pav with some strawberry-white chocolate mousse left over from the wedding cake, and topped it with some fresh strawberry coulis. This was fantastic! I'd go make another now if all my baking equipment weren't in storage. 
Blog-checking lines: 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
Original challenge recipes can be found here.

33 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG your white chocolate and strawberry version looks absolutely amazing! Your dark choc mousse is beautifully smooth. I was not able to achieve this. Yours looks wonderful. Great piping and presentation!

Unknown said...

Beautiful job!

Audax said...

WOW you different versions look so professional and your piping skills are superb they all look so beautiful but the 3rd photograph really caught my eye. You have a high level of baking skill. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

Unknown said...

Oh my! I love all the different variations of this dessert you came up with! Yummy!!! Great job on the challenge!

Linda Vandermeer McCubbin said...

Oh they all look soooo pretty. I adore the white meringue offset with the chocolate mouse and cherries it is so striking.

Cherine said...

Looks wonderful!

Katie said...

I love your piped meringues! Your piping skills are seriously superior. Well done!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

All your versions look so good. I also made plain meringues and had fun piping out the mousse. :)

Poonam said...

Your pav looks so pretty!! I love the way you piped the mousse :)

Esther said...

They all look fabulous but i love the idea of blackberry curd ones ! i'm planning to make more curds this year cos I love them.

Anonymous said...

All 3 versions look incredibly delicious! Beautiful work!

chef_d said...

Beautiful pavlovas! I can't decide which one I like best...the first one is stunning, I love the piping you did there...But the other two are equally beautiful :)

Valérie said...

Such pretty presentation! I love it! I missed the discussion on whether pavlova meringue should be crisp or not... personally I like it crisp. Anyway, congratulations on a great challenge!

Laurie {Simply Scratch} said...

I'll take one of each please!! Mary these look great!

sadaf said...

looks so delicious really i like the way as you present simple but elegant

Lot-O-Choc said...

Ohhh wow all of your pavlovas look so good!! Theyre making me want to make this challenge again! Yummm hehe!!

tease-spoon of sugar said...

I agree, your piping skills look professional. Beautiful pictures! Mouthwatering.

Unknown said...

Mary, thanks for your kind comments! I just thought I'd mention that I use Marsala a lot - a spoonful or two in a boiled custard is delicious, veal marsala, or dipped savoiardi in half marsala and half evaporated milk and layer with whipped cream like a easy tiramisu.

Ruth H. said...

That chocolate creme mouse looks so yummy... I love the creativity, and that you used what you had (I know, from other extremely amazing creations, but still, what you had!) to make even more awesome combinations! Great job on this challenge!

Dragon said...

Stunning! Great job with this month's challenge.

Elizabeth said...

how pretty! it even looks like your piped mousse/meringue was braided. lovely!

Chef Dennis Littley said...

WOW...simply amazing works of art!
your pavlovas go above and beyond the challenge....I am in Awe!!!

Anonymous said...

Your pictures really pop out! I like the vanilla chocolate combo. I found the chocolate chocolate version a little too rich. Good piping skills

Mimi said...

The pipping work is so elegant.this was a fun challenge.
Mimi

Sirius73 said...

The braiding-piping looks amazing! I'm far too clumsy to achieve anything like that... And your mousse looks creamy and delicious. Your challenge turned out great :-)

Valerie Gamine said...

Beautiful presentation, Mary! I love the idea of a vanilla meringue instead of chocolat. Not only does it look better, but the 2flavours get along so beautifully.

Nice work!

Renata said...

All your textures are SO PERFECT! Love the braided design. The fruit versions look really yummy! WOW!

Anonymous said...

Your pavlova look stunning! I want to eat them all...

Jane said...

No doubt it was delicious! I'm just wondering how you kept it crisp for your picnic. Mine turned to mush after a while. Great job!

Anonymous said...

Your completed challenges always look so good. Very pretty, and I'm sure they tasted amazing!

Lisa said...

Mary, when i saw both your pavlovas in the DK forum, I was blown away. Your piping of the meringue and mousse is gorgeous, and the straweberry-white chocolate mousse pavlova with strawberry coulis is mouth watering!! Beautiful photos too!

Leslie said...

How gorgeous they all are! Just stunning!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

These are so beautiful. I have to make one for another baking group and I had not thought of chocolate but....... thanks for that thought.