fresh mint Archives - Pretty Little Apron

Is it just me, or do you get really excited when berries start coming down in price during the summer months? FINALLY I don’t have to pay $8.99 for a big thing of strawberries!

This Summer Berry Pavlova is an awesome summer dessert. Perfect for just after grilling sessions on the back patio. I love it because it isn’t a super heavy dessert so it is perfect for hot summer nights. The fresh berries are refreshing and pack a little bit of nutrition into your dessert. I actually don’t feel too guilty about eating this dessert because it is far lighter then your standard cake. It is finished with a dreamy dollop of fresh whipped cream. Summer eating doesn’t get any better then this! And seriously how beautiful are these to look at? If you are looking for a “WOW” factor dessert to take to a party this summer, this Summer Berry Pavlova is just that.

Typically, Pavlova is made with a larger meringue circle, however I love a mini dessert. If you’d like to make one large meringue disk, simply pipe in one big circle. You can use an icing spatula to create peaks or patterns if you want it to look super fancy. With all the beautiful, bright berries it is so easy to make this dessert look beautiful without spending too much time on decorating! If you make one large meringue disk, just pile up your berries and whipped cream on top, and slice it like a cake.

Meringue Making Tips

Meringue is easy to make, so don’t be intimidated! Above are the 3 stages of whipping the meringue:

Soft peaks
1/2 the sugar added
Finished

Your meringue will be nice and glossy when it is finished. If you rub a little between your fingers you shouldn’t feel any grit of sugar. I took a spatula and very gently put it into my piping bag fitted with a Ateco 850 tip. Sometimes people take a cup or bowl and make circles on their parchment paper with a sharpie (flip the parchment paper over then so that the marker won’t get on your meringue) as a guide. I didn’t feel this was necessary because I didn’t care if they weren’t all exactly the same as they were just for my family. My kids have no idea what meringue even is, so they would never look at them and wonder why they aren’t the same. The perks of your audience being babies and toddlers! 🙂

If there is one thing my household loves it’s ice cream! When we started eating unprocessed foods ice cream was one item that disappeared from my freezer. If you take a stroll down the freezer isle in your local grocery store and read some of the ingredient lists one thing is clear… there are a ton of additives in ice cream that do not need to be there. I am not talking about tons of sugar because the sugar is the least of worry in this case. Ingredients I have seen on ice cream containers range from carrageenan to polysorbate 80 to propyl paraben. I am guessing you don’t have those ingredients in your house and neither do I. So why allow someone else to put them in your food?

Making your own ice cream is really simple. All you need is something to freeze the ice cream in and a few real ingredients. For my husband’s birthday this year I knew I wanted to make some fresh mint ice cream to go along with a dark chocolate tart. If you have never tasted fresh mint ice cream you are missing out big time! It is so much better then the store bought stuff! Here is the recipe I used for my husband’s birthday and it turned out fantastic.

*If you are having trouble finding the Mocobado Sugar at your local grocery store here it is on Amazon.