Fresh herb & lemon potato salad

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What makes a perfect potato salad? In my mind the perfect potato salad is the one that I grew up with, the one my mom makes. It has fresh peas, dill, pickles, hardboiled eggs, mustard, a little pickle juice, mayo and a bunch of other things that are currently not on my “can eat” list. Under normal circumstances, I’m sure that I could live without potato salad for a couple of weeks, I certainly have gone without a lot of other things over the last 8 days. However, when everyone else is out at bbq’s having yummy potato salads, I ended up feeling like I need to be part of the potato salad eating crew. So I have had to suck it up and try something new.

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The search for the right mayo-less potato salad was not without peril. There are millions of recipes out there, but none of them really seemed to speak to me. Either they were too complex, calling for grilling the potatoes and veggies, or they seemed to call for ingredients that I didn’t have kicking around the house. For me that is one of the beauties of my usual recipe, I can virtually always pull it together. I decided it was time to take note of what I really like about the original salad and find one with similar elements. I was looking for was something that was simple in both its production and in its ingredient list. I wanted a salad that highlighted the flavours of fresh herbs and the bright acidity that pickle juice brings to my moms salad. This fresh herb and lemon was just what I wanted. The fresh herbs and lemon provide bold flavours and the thinly sliced potatoes steam up in a snap. Truth be told, may0-less potato salads really aren’t that bad, they might even be all around delicious.

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Fresh Herb & Lemon Potato Salad
Adapted from Fine Cooking 

1-3/4 lb. baby red potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
The main ingredient in discount viagra the usa that promotes blood flow stimulating the male organ is sildenafil citrate. On the canadian discount cialis off chance that you have a past history of heart conditions, and/or hypertension. Male impotency is an increasingly disturbing issue that levitra for sale online is creating problems in a lot of married relationships. To Keep in mind our valuable visitors and their privacy, everything can happen, up to the disclosure of confidential information. viagra on line 1 lemon juiced and zested
1 cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh basil
1/2 cup thinly sliced chives
6 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Fill a large pot, that can be fitted with a steamer, with a couple of inches of water. Bring the water to a boil and arrange the potatoes in layers in the steamer. Cover the pot and steam, gently stir the potatoes every 5 minutes until the potatoes are cooked, about 10 – 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and transfer into a large serving bowl.

In the meantime while the potatoes are steaming, zest and then juice the lemon. Add the zest to a food processor and set the lemon juice aside to use later.

Also add the garlic and herbs to the processor and pulse a few times until the herbs are coarsely chopped. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper, pulse until the mixture is nicely combined, avoid over processing the herbs as this will cause them to discolour. Finally add the lemon juice and pulse once to mix.

Pour the herb mixture over the potatoes and lightly toss to combine. Serve while warm.

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Birthday girl

fresh

In my memory, there is a cherry tree in the backyard of my grandmother’s house. It is taller than the house and shades the back bedroom, where I often sleep when I visit. On the sticky hot summer evenings when we throw the windows wide, I can hear the breeze ruffling the leaves, lulling me to sleep. Its sturdy, spreading branches make this cherry tree more inviting to climb than the peach trees further down the yard.

cherries

With a cherry tree, it seems that you could pull your way up into the tree with little effort and vanish among the thick green leaves, finding a comfortable perch and your own personal cherry picking heaven. And while I don’t often take to climbing other people’s trees out in the picking orchards these days, I do love that experience of climbing deep into the tree on a towering ladder. Suddenly, you are surrounded by drooping branches of sweet fruit, sometimes sticky from the bees and birds that call these havens their own. I favor the clumps of heavy fruit that come off in long, elegant, stemmed pairs, nature’s tasty version of a 2-for-1 deal.

batter

Last week, I mentioned I was working on a recipe for clafoutis. You’ve heard about clafoutis, right? It is a flan-like dessert, often served slightly warm, that is usually overflowing with cherries. (OK, maybe the overflowing part is more me than anything else!) Eaten as a dessert, or maybe even a tasty breakfast treat, the custardy filling is perfectly at home with seasonal fruit. And while cherries are the traditional filling, the batter takes well to almost any fruit. And once you’ve tasted it for yourself, you will likely find reasons to adapt it to raspberries, blueberries, pears and more.

pouring

I don’t generally make clafoutis year round. I seem to play with it a few times every season right about now as the cherries start to pile up in my fridge. There is something about cherry season that does not let me pass by the darkly glinting heaps of the black-red fruit that I find at farmers markets or roadside stands. Surely I can find a use for a few more pounds? A month or so ago, I got a pretty baking dish with deeply fluted sides, that claims to be a clafoutis mold. With that one mention, I jumped right back into clafoutis production like I’d never missed a beat. And while I’ve always made this dish in a cast iron skillet or even a pie dish, this pan makes for a pretty presentation, even if it is a little tricky to serve.

prepped

The thing with this pan is that is a little smaller capacity than what seems to be typical for most clafoutis recipes. So I’ve been tweaking, trying to find the perfect portions for a smaller crowd. I’ve also been playing with other flour combinations to find a good gluten-free variation, but I’ll have to save that for another day. I think this recipe will nicely serve four for dessert. You can use a pan with about a 6-cup capacity, or a 9-inch pie plate or skillet. See, we aren’t picky here!

dusted

And don’t let the fact that it is cherry season fool you—this dessert is really for Tina, who will be celebrating a birthday in a few days. An undying fan of Okanagan cherries and a true connoisseur of the flan, I am sure this recipe will be just the thing for your special day. I’m sorry I can’t make you a piece this year.

dessert

While there is some debated as to whether cherry clafoutis should be prepared with whole or pitted cherries, I’ll leave that decision to you. I can’t often be bothered with the pitting, but I don’t really relish the thought of someone breaking a tooth under my watch. In the meantime, I’ve included a few drops of almond extract to add a little more flavor, no matter which way you go!

Cherry Clafoutis
Serves 4 as dessert, 2 as breakfast
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¼ cup (40 grams) all-purpose flour
¾ cup milk
¼ cup (55 grams) sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt
a couple of drops almond extract, optional
2 cups (350 grams) pitted cherries

Heat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, measure flour. Slowly add milk to flour, whisking constantly. Beat hard to remove lumps. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and almond extract, if using. Mix well to combine.

Butter a 9-inch pan generously. Add cherries to bottom of pan and spread evenly. Pour batter on top of cherries. Place in the middle of the oven and cook for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden and puffy. The very middle of the clafoutis will still be a little wobbly when you gently shake the pan.

Allow the clafoutis to cool for about 30 minutes. Slice and sprinkle with a little icing sugar, or serve with freshly whipped cream.

 

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Fresh eating

I feel like have I spent the majority of the last five days eating bread. We certainly are a bread culture here in North America, with our toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and dinner rolls for, well of course dinner. In a normal week I don’t tend to eat that much wheat, so after my last five days of bread binging I decided it was time for a bit of a break. So, gone are the flours, the wheat, dairy, sugar and all processed foods. Well for a couple weeks at least.

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Eating with a specific list of no this, that or the other thing can often be a bit of a challenge. One trip to the grocery store will confirm that most of us have become so accustomed to eating pre-packaged, processed food, that cutting it out totally is no small feat. A couple of days ago while I was at the store I noticed that the girl in line in front of me had only pre-packaged foods in her cart, saved the raw pork belly. Yes I know, coming up with recipes and dinner ideas on the fly can be difficult and sometimes it is just easier to buy something. To help make dinner time a little easier over the next few weeks, I am returning to another treasured North American food mentality. Protien, starch and a veggie. I found that for myself, thinking of a meal in this way has made coming up with a meal plan a lot more manageable.

Anyway, when I was planning this particular dinner, I was thinking of a dinner that Ginger and I made together a very long time ago when I had gone to visit her for a few weeks one summer. We had made some sort of a red dipping sauce and chicken skewers. That is about all I can currently remember, but for some reason romesco sauce kept jumping into my mind. Now aside from the one time that Ginger and I may or may not have made romesco sauce, I don’t have any experience with making the sauce, or even what is traditionally included in the recipe. Some recipes seem to consist of just roasted tomatoes, others of tomatoes and roasted peppers and the variations went on. This version might be more closely related to mild muhummara than romesco but the result is a yummy, flavourful dish that will insure that you aren’t dissappointed to have left your bread and processed food behind. You can pair this sauce with a simple chicken skewer like I did here or use it as a dip for your veggies and crackers, or in my case rice cakes.

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Red Pepper Dip

3 red peppers
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3/4 cup almonds
1 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
Juice of half a lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place peppers on a greased baking tray, turning them every 3 or 4 minutes minutes until the skins of the peppers are charred and blackened (about 15 minutes). Transfer peppers into a bowl and cover with cling wrap and allow peppers to rest for about 10-15 minutes, this will help the skin peel off. Peel off the skins and remove the seeds and stem.

In a small pan heat a splash of olive oil. Add onions to hot pan and sauté onions for 3-5 minutes. Place all ingredients to the blender or food processer and process until desirered consistancy is reached.

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Let them watch bicycle racing…

Here we are at the start of July and what feels like, to me, anyway, the start of our summer vacation. The meltingly hot weather seems to have arrived, which makes lounging in the shade sound like a good idea and frosty drinks a required luxury. The garden seems to be gathering momentum, with clusters of green tomatoes appearing in the thickets and rapidly climbing pole beans. The popsicle mold sits filled with strawberry goodness in the freezer. And if all of that is not enough, it is the start of the Tour de France.

The Tour is a bit of a thing around here. And what I mean by a “thing” is a three-week celebration of cycling and French-inspired cooking. It is also a time honored tradition around here in July. There is a supply of cold French rosé in the fridge and a small sampling of recipes I hope to work my way through in the next few weeks. Of course, we will still be planning on some of our staples, like the crepes I mentioned here, as well as a delicious version of a cherry clafoutis that I’ve been working on. And don’t forget Tina’s celebratory drink that she created for just such an event!

The Tour de France, which makes a three week journey around France is not just an amazing bicycle race. With the tour’s first ever foray into the Corsican countryside, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the most gorgeous scenery of that island. Such amazing beaches and lovely towns. Another place to add to my travel wish list, I guess. And while I know I am suppose to be paying attention to the bike racing, I can’t help but watch the scenery flying by for potential travel locations in the future.

Administration of cimetidine (800 mg) two hours prior sexual activity. female viagra sildenafil Some results from clinical trials viagra online india using herbal remedies to treat psoriasis have been promising. Issues order generic levitra about not being able to in the least formal relationship including itself. Zenegra medicine responses discover that pharmacy shop now online cialis very quickly and it can be said that for a healthy male organ performance, the heart should be healthy. Years ago, I had a friend who headed off to France one summer to follow the tour around the country. He came back with wild stories of running up the sides of mountains, trying to catch a glimpse of the peleton speeding by, only to run back down to catch the train to the next stage of the race. I hope that one day I can head off to France to catch a glimpse of this cycling adventure for myself. My own little cyclist will certainly approve! In the meantime, enjoy the tour, friends!

racer

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Confessions

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Earlier this week Ginger came out and admitted that she is a grocery store tourist and being the good sister that I am, I didn’t want her to feel alone in this whole confession thing. So I will make a confession of my own. I am a reality TV addict. It is pretty bad, I like Survivor, America’s Next Top Model(I’m so embarrassed right now), The Batchelor, So You Think You Can Dance, you name it, I probably watch it. But more than the usual suspects, I also love to watch me some reality cooking shows too. With Canada’s Next Top Chef just wrapping up, I have moved on to my new current obsession, Master Chef.

Master Chef is a great show! Home cooks face off against each other, cooking with mystery supply boxes and participating in “cook for your life” type challenges. It is pretty good stuff if I do say so myself. One of the recent elimination challenges got me thinking about the breadth of my own cooking skills. The challenge for the contestant was to recreate the perfect classic Eggs Benedict. Nothing fancy or innovative, just cook a straight up classic. Now it is fully a known fact that I could not be on a cooking show, I need recipes. But perhaps I could use this reality show as a guide to grow my own skills. I almost wanted to start my own little Master Chef cook along series, then this weeks challenge happened: cook with a full pigs head. I promptly put that idea to bed.
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While you will not find me in the kitchen trying to whip something clever up with a pig’s head, you will find me whipping up eggs benny and my very frist batch of hollandaise sauce! And I will add that it went off without a hitch. If I were on the show, I most certainly wouldn’t have been sent home. Well if they would have supplied me with a recipe first.

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Grocery store tourist

shore

A few days back, browsing Instagram, like you do, I came upon someone’s description of themselves that stopped me cold. Grocery store tourist. I think there were a few other words shared, but those ones really resonated with me. I wanted to rewrite my Instagram profile on the spot, but I didn’t quite feel right about reusing that description. But it’s just so perfect for me.

ShakeItPhoto Photo-1

I hadn’t really thought about it in those specific terms, but I am that grocery store tourist. Take me to any grocery store and don’t expect to leave anytime soon. I am going to wander the aisles—up and down every last one of them. I want to see everything that is on offer. Unique produce, unusual sweets, new tea varieties and let me not forget the dairy section.

ladder

Even better is the foreign grocery store in a faraway country. English is not the main language here, leaving me puzzling over the few words that I can piece together on the packaging. And try finding your way around a grocery store organized in a non-American configuration. Where, oh where, did they put the salt? But that is the adventure—never knowing what I’ll find next. Maybe a different variety of Haribo candy or a wall of rosé at the corner quick mart.

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Sometimes grocery stores play a key role in my travels. Recently I visited a friend in California and planned some time to go to a Persian grocery store, eat an authentic meal and stop by an ice cream shop. (More on that later!) Inspired by a magazine article here, a new cookbook there and this crazy curiosity that propels us cooking types into new territory, I wanted to make some Persian food. Reading through recipes proved that I would need some exciting ingredients and maybe a dash of inspiration. And where better to find both of those things than wandering the tight aisles of a little shop looking for the ingredients on my list.

fountain

I found bags of fresh sour cherries at the counter and a baskets of vibrant fresh herbs. Bottles of stacked yogurt sodas, doogh, like I had just enjoyed with my meal, spilled into the narrow walkway. Tucked away in the back corner of the shop was the spice wall, covered in little hanging packets, all neatly arranged like a fine art display. Rows of fancy brands of orange flower and red rose water. I came away with a bag of puckery sour smelling dried limes and a plastic clamshell of tiny dried barberries that should last me for a while! My surprise discovery was a supply of fruit leathers, sour cherry, pomegranate and plum, that I had to try. Sweet success at the grocery store.

ShakeItPhoto Photo
Not long ago back home, a friend was sharing his supply of fancy German mustard at a backyard party and I took a measured dollop to enjoy with my hotdog. Mmmm! Another friend texted me to let me know she spotted fresh figs in a local store. While the description of grocery store tourist took me by surprise, I hardly think I am alone. Thank goodness…

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A weekend in paradise

P1070010This weeks post is a bit of an experiment. As I mentioned last week, we headed out camping. This meant that I traded in my usual kitchen setup for a tent and a picnic table and most importantly, I put down my pots and pans and spent most of my time behind my camera snapping photos! Before we left on our little road trip I had it in my mind that I wanted to capture the weekend in a different way then just photographs that I would have to sift through and share only my top few picks. This weekend I threw caution to the wind and just started snapping pictures left and right. Don’t judge me!

Friday after work we packed up and hit the road. Destination, Paradise Valley, just a short hours drive out of the city. Paradise Valley didn’t disappoint. It was lush and warm with plenty of soft filtered light streaming through the canopy of trees. This is where we pitched our tents, nestled in between a swift moving river and a train track. Here we drank our morning coffee, hustled to the side of the tracks at the faintest sound of a whistle and watched the embers of our fire slowly fade at the end of a very good day.
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http://youtu.be/RuogwR4qXks

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Le pique-nique

tabletop

Just in time for summer, we are celebrating International Picnic Day. Yes, there actually is a day for that – today, June 18. And it turns out to be an event that I can get behind. Around here, we like to pack up a meal or two every week and head outdoors. Often times it will be a late Sunday afternoon or maybe even a Thursday night, when we feel like getting the weekend off to an early start. We’re lucky enough to be within biking range of a lovely park with picnic tables, trees and plenty of grass for running and lounging.

The glorious thing about picnics is that there are no rules. A picnic can be as fancy or as basic as you like. Invite all of the friends that won’t fit into your dining room out to the park, or make it the most cozy of meals with a special someone. And food suitable to eat outdoors is pretty much only limited by your imagination and the time you have to put it together.

his plate

Most often, I rely on a few delicious items that I pick up at my favorite shop. If I have time, or plan ahead, I might make a simple salad or some other dish to take along. And I do have this crazy plan that maybe one day, I’ll pull a piping hot fruit galette out of the oven and roll down to the park with a frosty cold jar of heavy cream. We’ll take turns shaking the cream and spooning the goodness onto our just warm gallette. One day…

Summer after summer, I get more of a picnic routine down. With a little gathering of supplies in advance, I can get us out the door and on our way to the park by 6 p.m., even after a full day of work. This is the lovely part about picnics, they don’t have to be complicated. Head down to a well stocked grocery store, grab a few of your favorites and head off to eat. Depending on the day, I might pack up a couple of real glasses or just throw in the melamine plates that came from a picnic set we got years ago. Meals are also quite tasty eaten by hand with a napkin to catch the drips and brush away the crumbs.

collage3

With a few summers of regular picnicking behind me, I thought I’d share a few of our favorites, just in time for your own summertime adventures.

Easy food options:
Baguette
Selection of salami
Favorite cheeses
Hard boiled eggs
Olives/cornichons
Something to drink
Fresh fruit
Chocolate bar

collage1

Make something delicious to bring along:
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Tina’s fancy pocket picnic sandwiches
Grape cake to round things out
And just in case you decide to live the galette dream, here’s the recipe.

collage2

Bits to pack to make your picnic even better:
Salt
Paring knife
Corkscrew/bottle opener
Napkins
Glasses

Fancy extras:
Blanket for lounging
Bocce ball, soccer or frisbee
Favorite book, magazine or sketchbook
Tablecloth

blanket

 

 

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Pop it like it’s hot

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I am currently sitting in front of the computer looking for a little motivation. It is hard to get down to business when visions of campfires are dancing through your head. This weekend marks the unofficial start to summer around these parts. Camping is a big part of our summer activities and I have come to equate the beginning of summer with our first camping trip. So, summer begins tomorrow and at this time tomorrow I hope to be sitting in front of a campfire relaxing.

Snacks are a really big part of camping, especial the driving part of camping. Last year, I had some pretty good success with popcorn, so for our first trip I have decided to take this years popcorn to the next level. Earlier in the week I stumbled on this popcorn recipe on The Kitchn and they kindly forwarded me on to Top With Cinnamon, where the official recipe to this years camping popcorn lay. When it comes to popcorn there isn’t much that beats a straight up buttered popcorn or kettle corn. Oftentimes I find fancy popcorn flavours too sweet or too salty or otherwise just overly flavoured. But this coconut chocolate kettle corn strikes the perfect balance, a little sweet, a little salty and a whole lot yummy. I have modified the original recipe a little as I have had a lot of success making kettle corn with a little more oil and a little more popcorn than the original called for. When you have proportions that work for you, why mess with it I figure. The next time I make this recipe I think that I am going to try adding some of the coconut into the pot with the popcorn. I have no idea if it will work or not but it seems like it could be tasty.

P1060871

Coconut Chocolate Kettle Corn

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1/2 cup popcorn kernels
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut (plus a little more for sprinkling at the end)
salt to taste
1/4 cup semisweet/bittersweet chocolate, melted

Once you begin popping the popcorn this recipe comes together very quickly. You would be well served to have all your ingredients measured and set aside. Begin by laying out two cookie sheets. You can cover them with parchment paper for easier cleanup if you like. Placing your melted chocolate into a piping bag or a ziplock with the corner snipped off will also speed up the process.

Place a large pot on a medium high element, add the coconut oil and three kernels of corn. Once all three kernels have popped add all of the popcorn to the pot and shake. Once all the kernels have been coated in oil sprinkle evenly with sugar. Continue shaking the pot until the vigorous popping slows. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the remaining few kernels to pop. Divide the hot popcorn between the two trays. Working quickly, sprinkle the popcorn with coconut and salt to taste. Next drizzle the melted chocolate onto the popcorn and top with a little more coconut if you like. Let cool until the chocolate has hardened or until you can wait no longer. Store in an airtight container.

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Birthday season

Summer is birthday season in my family. Growing up, the four of us celebrated birthdays May through August at the steady pace of one per month. Another birthday cake was always just around the corner, and we were celebrating all summer long! What’s more, when my husband joined the party years later, his birthday in September fit perfectly into the schedule.

fresh berries

Birthdays are extra special when you are young and just looking to add another year to your age. As kids, Tina and I were very enthusiastic about treasure hunts at our parties. I like to think everyone enjoyed them as much as we did. I am not sure where this idea came from, most likely from some book or other we were immersed in. There was a period of several years where every birthday party included a foray into the back yard to search for treasure. Our mom was a great sport, setting up clues to keep us and our friends happy. At the end of our search, we’d always find brown paper bags, labelled with our names. The bags were filled with sweet treats to keep us happy for days. Tina and I got to pitch in by picking out the candy that we would share with our friends in those goodie bags. I still remember the sour gummy candies, sprinkled with sparkly sugar. Those are still my favorites.

little berries

These days, treasure hunts aren’t a part of our birthday routines. It is extra special event when we can get together to spend time with family around birthdays. Just a few weeks back, we all celebrated my dad’s birthday. And while we didn’t make him search for his gifts, the treasure hunt tradition is not over yet. I am pretty sure my son will be eager to carry on this little ritual.  And his birthday is still coming up…

pavlova
As birthday season is just getting underway, I think I might have found the cake for all occasions. The June issue of Bon Appétit had a lovely feature on strawberries, complete with a berry pavlova. (Click here for the recipe.) Since my birthday coincides with strawberry season, the choice for my dessert was already made. The first of the juicy red berries are just beginning to appear in our farmer’s market, and this yummy pavlova seems like a fitting use for them. And next time I need a party cake, I think I’ll just rotate in seasonal fruit—raspberries, peaches and blueberries all sound pretty delicious. I followed the recipe as listed and it turned out really well. Whoever came up with the genius idea of whipped cream AND mascarpone should be saluted! My only word of advice is that you might have a hard time prettily cutting and plating the dessert. Things can get a little messy. But it’s a birthday cake, after all. Serve it with champagne and no one will be the wiser!

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