Party Pavlovas

We had a little celebration last weekend with friends. It was a thank you to those who graciously helped us out last summer when our home was uninhabitable and a time of rejoicing that the Lord has continued His faithfulness to us. Much has happened in the last year, and we are especially thankful for Tate's life.

I made Pavlovas for dessert. I first had pavlovas when I spent a semester in Australia. There, a meringue base was filled with vanilla pudding (or something very similar) and topped with fruit salad. It was very good, and I tucked away the memory. I found a similar recipe in a Cooking Light cookbook, but adapted it and came up with this:

Party Pavlovas

Meringue Base:
6 Egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 and 1/3 cups of sugar
Optional: toasted coconut, pinch of salt

Beat the eggs and cream of tartar at high speed until foamy. Then add the extract, and the sugar a little at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper. Form meringue into little nests or cups (you could do them however you prefer). Bake in a 250 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn off heat and leave in oven with door closed for at least 4 hours (or overnight).

Custardy Filling:
1 8 oz container light cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup vanilla (or plain) yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat ingredients in mixer until well blended. Add whipping cream a bit at a time until mixture is thick and creamy. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Topping:
6-8 cups of cut up fruit (I used peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)
Lemon or lime juice (to keep fruit looking nice)
(Optional: sugar to juice up the fruit if you like it extra juicy; dried cherries would be delicious; Mint would be wonderful)

When you are ready to celebrate, you simply fill your meringue nest with the custardy filling and then top with fruit mixture. This is so yummy and really not very hard at all.