Monday, December 29, 2014

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Pavlova


'Tis the Season for rich and delicious
desserts and this Chocolate Peppermint Pavlova
is the perfect Christmas or winter dessert.

Each bite has the moist crunch of meringue with
the rich smoothness of chocolate ganache and
the flavor punch of peppermint bark. 

Wow, this just screams celebration!! 


My friend Rachel made this for a dinner party
last week and hubby and I kept having visions
of Pavlova dance in our heads  - so I made
it myself for a dinner invitation last night.

The recipe comes from Williams-Sonoma.
Click here for complete instructions.




I made a few minor changes to the preparation.
Rather than letting the melted chocolate and cream
mix sit and cool for two hours (way too long for
my patience) I put them in a large mixing bowl
and beat them with the whisk attachment until 
the mixture became like a soft pudding.  When
you can spoon the ganache onto the meringue,
it is ready to use.  This only takes a few
minutes on high.

Have all of your ingredients
ready as the ganache can cool rapidly.  

I also baked all of my meringues
at once, and only shaped them to 8 inches
each as they will grow.  I did two pans in
my big oven and one in the little but it ended
up that I didn't use the fifth layer as I ran 
out of ganache.

If you can't get WS's Peppermint Bark,
Ghiradelli makes a great one or whip up
a quick batch of your own. 


I used a combination of Jensen's and Ghiradelli's
for mine because that was what I had on hand.

This could also
be made with Ande's Mints or you could
change it to almond - so many possibilities!!
This isn't just a Christmas dessert.



The Pavlova is delicate and cracks easily 
so handle it with care.  You would think it
would be difficult to slice and serve, but use
a serrated knife to cut it.  You want it room
temperature to cut it or the ganache will
be too hard.


Layer after layer of light and moist
meringue cuts the richness of the
ganache.  Oh, the texture combination
is fantastic!  The peppermint flavor 
comes just from the peppermint bark so
it isn't too minty.


This is one of those desserts that takes 
some time for prep but is worth it.

This is one of those desserts that
depicts
"dreams of sugarplums dancing in their heads".

We give this a ten thumbs up!

I will be posting this with 





8 comments:

  1. It's beautiful Jackie. I wouldn't have thought to put ganache in between. Good to know you can actually cut it. Pavlova's one of my favorite desserts. Happy New Year.

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  2. Very pretty with great flavor combos:@)

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  3. That looks absolutely dreamy- Perfect for a New Year celebration! :)

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  4. What a beautiful display for a yummy dessert. It looks so pretty and decadent. Happy New Year Jackie! xo

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  5. So beautiful!!! This is really a show-stopper, Jacqueline.

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  6. My favorite dessert and biggest ambition to cook one. I keep afraid of not pulling the perfect pavlova so I haven't even tried to.
    Maybe if I hang around you enough - Oh Master and Fairy of Special and Delicious Desserts - something rubs on me and I can pull it off. The courage if nothing else ahahah
    Well, just stopped by (to drool, ok?!) to wish you and your loved ones a Magical and Special New Year,
    Teresa

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