Blackberry Cardamom Pavlova

Ahhh....Pavlova. A crispy, creamy, fruity marvel of sweetness; elegant and beautiful as the famous ballerina it was named after and surprisingly simple to make. Just a couple of hours (needed for the meringues to bake) and a few simple ingredients and everyone who tastes it will bow down before you in gratitude. Plus, it would be gorgeous for Easter.

Meringues
2 large egg whites at room temp
8 tbsp sugar, divided
3/4 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp rose flower water

Preheat oven to 275 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form and, with mixer running, slowly add 6 tbsp sugar. Whisk together remaining 2 tbsp sugar, cornstarch and cardamom. Slowly add this mixture to the egg whites and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Beat in rose flower water. Spoon mixture onto parchment lined sheet in small rounds and use the back of a spoon to make indentations in the center of the mounds.


Bake for about 20 minutes, meringues should be dry to the touch. Turn off the oven and prop door open slightly with the handle of a wooden spoon. Let the meringues cool in the oven for an hour.


They smell heavenly at this point...like flowery, spicy, marshmallows. While the meringues are baking you can make the Sabayon which is delicious and has a definite champagne taste. Even if you don't make the meringues make this sauce and serve it over fresh berries. OMG....soooo good!

Lemon-Champagne Sabayon
6 large egg yolks
5 tbsp sugar
2 tsps lemon zest
pinch of salt
3/4 cup Prosecco


Rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really release the oils and make the sugar fragrant. In a metal or glass bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, lemon sugar and salt until well blended.



Gradually whisk in Presecco and place bowl over gently boiling water making sure to not let the bowl touch the water (think double boiler).



Constantly whisk until thickened which takes about 4 minutes (instant read thermometer will register 170F).


Place bowl into larger bowl of ice water and whisk until cool (about 5 minutes).

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp rose flower water

With a mixer beat cream, sugar, vanilla and rose flower water until soft peaks form (save some of this for your coffee. it's delish!)

To assemble the Pavlova, put a small dollop of whipped cream on the center of your plate. Place a meringue on top of the cream and gently press it into the cream to anchor it. Spoon more whipped cream into the center of the meringue and top with fresh blackberries (a heaping 1/4 cup). Spoon a generous amount of Sabayon over the berries and letting it pool around the base of the Pavlova.


Eat with eyes closed in rapturous delight.

Terra Cotta Transformation

I have a thing for serving dishes: round, oval, deep shallow, large, small, tiered...you name it. And I think it's awesome that there are so many different mediums out there that can be used to create some incredible pieces that can be customized any way you wish.

I was at Michael's over the weekend and picked up a terra cotta pot and saucer to try my hand at making a tiered serving dish and am loving the results! I'm sure you've seen several examples of these on other blogs and I really want to encourage you to make one for yourself or as a gift for a dear friend. Plus, you can seriously make one for pennies on the dollar and when you consider the high price tags on tableware; well....it just makes sense to whip something up.

Here's what I used:

terra cotta pot and saucer (whichever size appeals to you)
two colors of acrylic paint (I used craft smart aqua and robins egg blue)
valspar decorative effects weathered crackle glaze (not necessary, I just wanted the look)
three fabric roses (fabric and sheer silver ribbon mixed together)
snow flake cookie cutter covered with Mod Podge and silver glitter
satin varnish
liquid fusion
double stick tape

I new that I was going to be using the crackle glaze on this so I first painted the pot and saucer in my base color (aqua) and gave it a chance to dry.




Next I covered both pieces with a single coat of the crackle glaze medium. The directions say to let it dry for 1-5 hours before putting on the second color. I waited an hour (a word of caution here, when applying the second color, don't go over sections as the top color will start to clump).




Once both pieces were dry, I covered them with a coat of interior satin varnish (you could use a gloss or matte finish, whichever you like) then used the liquid fusion to adhere the base of the pot to the base of the saucer. E600 probably would have been best but I didn't have any and didn't want to wait to get some. I know you know what I mean!

Let that sit overnight with a big fat dictionary weighting it down.



This morning, it was a matter of embellishing which is what it's all about, right? So I made a few fabric roses using what I learned from this tutorial and adding shear silver ribbon as part of my fabric. I also thought it needed something glittery so I put a snowflake on it that I'd made using an old cookie cutter, Mod Podge and silver glitter. Actually, this was the first embellishment I put on then realized it needed something more so I added the flowers...


Then, because I have LOTS of that silver ribbon, I added some to the base of the saucer using double stick tape...


Obviously, this little treasure can't get wet so be sure to keep this in mind when you're thinking of how it's going to be used.

I really love the way it turned out though. I can picture it holding creamy white pillared candles, coarse sugar-dusted shortbread cookies, or as a base for some vintage looking glass-domed decor! Love love love how one gift can be used so many ways!

Altered Composition Book

Making an altered composition book to give as a gift to those who love to journal, doodle or jot down a quick note is a fun, quick and extremely creative way to get your craft on. It's relatively inexpensive and can be heavily embellished or streamline and simple. The one pictured above is my most recent endeavor which I'm really excited to give to a dear friend of mine and I know she's going to love it!

The basic supplies are really simple to gather and if you don't already have them, you can get hooked up at your favorite craft store (hello Michael's!). You'll just need a composition book (totally stock up on these at Target during 'Back To School' sales - you can usually pick up two for $.99 which is a great bargain) and 4 sheets of coordinating scrapbook paper. You can use the 8.5x11 size sheets but I prefer the 12x12 because you have extra to use in embellishing. I used Mod Podge as my glue though you can use whatever you have on hand - just make sure it dries clear and give a strong bond.


Determine which papers you want to use where, measure the height and width of your book and make your cuts. It's pretty important to be exact here so don't assume that measurements for each front/back/inside covers will be the same and don't 'eyeball' it or you'll either come up short and be able to see the cover of the book or you'll find yourself doing a lot of trimming.

I use a corner cutter on one side of my paper to match up with the corners of the comp book. If you're going to embellish your pages with anything that will go through your paper or need to be taken around to the back of it (like brads or ribbon), it's best to do this before you adhere your paper to the book - you'll have a cleaner and smoother look to your finished product. Before adhering would also be the time to ink the edges of your paper if you're wanting to do that as well.

I've seen some of these notebooks where only the front and back outside covers have been altered which I really dislike. Your book will look so much better if you alter the inside covers as well plus doing so gives you more space to play! Get creative! Add ribbon, brads, initials, poetry...you can really do so much!


Inside front cover...



Inside back cover...



Back cover...



You can really personalize this for the one you're giving it to - and don't forget those cute mini composition books too! They're great to use for all of the left over scraps you have from your larger book and they make perfect stocking stuffers too!