Christmas Pavlova dessert : Before and After decorating with fresh sugared cherries, cranberries and pomegranate #GardenCuizine

Christmas Pavlova

On Christmas Eve my first Pavlova cake went into the oven! The big decision was white or gold? The kind of vanilla extract makes a difference. I prefer natural vanilla flavor, so I didn't go with the clear vanilla. As you can see, the whipped egg whites turned a pale gold hue. It looked festive on the table beside the flickering candlelight.

Pavlova is really like a large meringue. It was baked on low heat for 1.5 hours. After baking, the Pavlova stayed in the oven overnight until crisp and light.

On Christmas Day it was time to decorate the Pavlova. For the frosting, in place of the cream cheese, I used freshly whipped cream and pureed, unstrained, cranberries and pomegranate seeds. Sugared cherries and cranberries served as a decorative topping, along with a few handfuls of glistening, juicy pomegranate arils (seeds/juice sacs).

I'm not a big fan of fresh rosemary (or mint) on desserts, so I used fresh bay leaves instead. We happen to have a potted bay laurel tree growing inside during the winter. The leaves were just for decoration. Of course, you don't want to eat a bay leaf!

This holiday Pavlova dessert was pretty straight forward and easy to make. The link to the recipe can be found in my previous blog post.

 Notes: Pavlova is light and delicious and would make a wonderful dessert any time of year. Meringues hold up best in dry versus humid conditions.

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