Mini Pavlovas (Meringue Dessert Cookies)

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inner.

This is a lovely light dessert which you can vary to your taste.  Australians claim that it was created for the ballerina Anna Pavlova when she was visiting there but New Zealanders claim they had it long before then.  Whoever is right, I'm glad they kept the recipe!

You can make these way ahead of time and keep them in your cupboard in an airtight box for several weeks.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 cup sugar.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Whisk the egg whites until foamy
Add the cream of tarter and whisk to combine
Add the sugar - very slowly at first, scraping down the the bowl a couple of times.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1/4" tip and pipe onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Pipe a small circle and build a "wall" as demonstrated in the video.
Place in preheated oven and turn off the heat.  Leave to dry for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

Suggested fillings:  lemon curd and raspberries, whipped cream and assorted small or sliced fruits, chocolate ganache or chocolate mousse.
Fill no more than an hour or so before serving as meringues will soften.

Watch the Video

                                                          

Shortbread Cookies-A Scottish Favorite

As a Scot, shortbread was the first thing I learned to bake. Growing up during the war in Scotland, sugar, butter (and everything else!) was severely rationed and families saved and saved to be able to bake a few treats for Christmas.
Shortbread was always at the top of the list. I have to tell you about one year when the shortbread was a disaster. In those days we didn't have supermarkets where everything was prepackaged as it is today. You went to the store and the grocer weighed out what you wanted, be it sugar, salt, flour, split peas, tea, etc.

Mother-Ruth (TOP)-Me-Gran

Everything came in identical blue bags, neatly folded at the top but, of course, there were no labels. Well, one year my grandmother made the shortbread but when we tasted it.....she had mistaken the salt for the sugar!


As with many ethnic recipes, you will find that every family has its own variation. With shortbread, some families use cornstarch with the flour, others use fine cornflour. I have changed our family recipe a little over the years to include rice flour as I find it adds a delicious "shortness". I hope you will enjoy it.


Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies                                       



Ingredients:


1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated orange peel
1/2 lb. butter (two sticks)
pinch salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rice flour
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1. Combine sugar and orange peel in food processor and pulse several times to blend. Add salt and pulse. Add butter and process until creamy and light. 
2. Add plain flour and process until combined. 
3. Add rice flour and process until a ball forms. There will probably be some dough that is still loose. 
4. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead with your hands until dough forms a smooth ball. Divide dough in two and form each half into a roll about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on waxed paper and use a cookie sheet to help "tighten" the roll. 
5. Refrigerate until firm - 1 - 2 hours. I save the tubes from paper towels, waxed paper, etc. and place the rolls in there to chill since it keeps them round. 
6. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line two or three cookie sheets with parchment paper. 
7. Slice the cookies a generous 1/4 inch thick and place on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 20 minutes or until just beginning to take on some color. 
8. Cool on the sheets for a minute or two then place on cooling racks to cool completely. 
9. Meanwhile, melt the chopped chocolate and when the cookies are cooled, dip them half way in the chocolate and place on waxed paper to set.

Enjoy!

WATCH THE VIDEO DEMONSTRATION

Chocolate chip cookies to the rescue!

Liz and Betty

One lovely benefit of the Great October Snowstorm is that our daughter and two of our granddaughters are camping out at our house while they wait for their electric power to be restored.

Of course that meant fresh cookies so I got out the mixer and started to make chocolate chip cookies.

My daughter was helping by measuring out the ingredients and was surprised when I told her I used 2 1/3 cups of flour instead of the 2 1/4 called for on the package recipe.

I have been doing this for years since I don't like the thin "fried out" cookies that I get with only the 2 1/4 cups of flour.

She also was surprised to see how much faster an ice-cream scoop gets the job done.

When only Rick and I are at home, I usually bake only half the recipe, scoop the rest out onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freeze them.  The next day I pop them into a plastic bag to have on hand for "cookie emergencies".

Mixing

Pre-baking

Oven Baking

Finished

Eliza, Sonia, Liz and Me