Michigan berry sorbets in mini pavlovas

I went a little crazy the last time I went to the Royal Oak Farmer's Market. I managed to hit the perfect time when there were still Michigan strawberries (which were at their end) as well as local raspberries and blueberries. Four quarts just had to come home with me! Tiny fragrant Michigan strawberries, black raspberries, red raspberries and blueberries were quickly turned into four single note sorbets. Ok it wasn't that quick, the ice cream freezer had to chill for 15 hours between each batch, but it was worth it! To serve them all together I made local, Michigan, Recipes: individual pavlovas. A pavlova is usually a large cake sized meringue that has the addition of cornstarch and vinegar. Pavlovas are lovely and crisp outside with a soft, fluffy interior. I actually over baked mine a little. Alex and I were having a picnic in the backyard while they were cooking. In my opinion this only made them better. They had a toasted marshmallow flavor and a chewiness that worked perfectly with the fragrant, tart sorbets.



I'm adding this to the latest Sugar High Friday hosted by Susan of Food Blogga. Sugar High Friday is a blog event created by Jennifer the Domestic Goddess. This SHF theme is berries. Stop by Susan's site Food Blogga in early August to see the other posts.


Basic Berry Sorbet
Makes ~ 1 pint
1 quart of berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries*)
~1 cup sugar
juice from half a lemon


-Dump berries and lemon juice in a food processor and add two thirds of the sugar. Process until smooth and taste for sweetness. It should be just slightly sweeter than you would want for sauce. Add more sugar as needed. *Note: To get the most color and flavor from blueberries it's best to smash them in a pot with the sugar and then cook just until the berries give up their color. Then add the lemon juice and adjust the sugar as needed.
-Strain sorbet base through a fine sieve to remove seeds. Refrigerate until cold.
-Follow your ice cream maker's directions and then freeze til solid, ~2 hours.

Michigan berry sorbets: clockwise from top left
blueberry, strawberry, black raspberry and red raspberry

Mini Pavlovas
Serves 4
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar (100g)
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

-Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.
-Whizz the sugar in a food processor or blender to create a finer grain but not powder.
-Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
-Slowly add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, beat between each addition.
-Beat until mixture feels smooth to the touch, no grains of sugar remain undissolved.
-Fold in the vinegar and cornstarch.
-Visually divide the mixture in fourths and spoon onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
-Form four relatively equal mounds and create a shallow depression in the middle.
-Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. The finished pavlovas should be cream colored and the surface should be dry and crisp.
-Turn off oven and open the door slightly. Allow the pavlovas to cool until they can be handled.
-Serve filled with fruit, sorbet or ice cream. Store in an air tight container for a day or two if it is not too humid.




More pavlova recipes for inspiration:

Joy of Baking pavolvas
Smitten Kitchen pavlovas
Pistachio pavlovas (Food and Wine Magazine)
Coconut pavlovas with tropical fruit (Food and Wine Magazine) *I have to do this soon!
Vacherins with raspberry sorbet (Epicurious)

Sugar High Fridays #41 -Vegan Caramels

This month's Sugar High Friday is all about sweet gifts. See all the entries at Habeas Brulee on Friday, March 28th.
These caramels are so good I'm seriously thinking about marketing them. There are a lot of dairy-free substitutes for ice cream, cream cheese, butter, and even whipped cream but I looked high and low and couldn't even find a good recipe for caramel candy. My husband was adamant that I find some way for Alex to taste caramel and have caramel apples. All of the recipes I could find used real cream, half and half or condensed milk and trying to substitute soy creamer just didn't cut it. Then I found a recipe that looked promising because it used a combination of dairy-free margarine and soymilk. After tweaking the directions a little I finally had my son's very first taste of caramel candy. He LOVED it! These caramels have quickly become his favorite treat. I think they can compare to any homemade caramel I've eaten.

Enjoy the recipe and make sure to share it with those in your life who either can't have dairy or choose not to. They are a truly great gift.

Vegan Caramels
Awesome homemade dairy-free caramel recipe! Good with nuts, topped with chocolate, or for dipping apples in. Cook it to a lower temperature for caramel ice cream topping. Thanks to "The Glad Cow Cookbook' for the original ingredient proportions.
Makes ~100 pieces of caramel
Ingredients
1 cup margarine*
2 cups sugar
2 cups soy milk
1 cup light corn syrup
1 t vanilla
*Optional: Add 1 tsp salt if using unsalted margarine
Directions
Grease and line with parchment a 8 inch x 8 inch baking pan.
Place all ingredients (except vanilla) in a large saucepan (4qt minimum capacity.)
Bring ingredients to a boil stirring often.
Cook over medium heat while stirring until candy reaches 245 degrees F.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into lined baking pan.
Allow to cool completely. Snip into pieces using clean kitchen shears (or slice with a knife). Wrap individually with waxed or parchment paper. Makes ~100 pieces
Variation: Cook to 230 degrees F and add vanilla. Pour into a glass jar. Warm jar in a pan of hot water before pouring over ice cream or cake.
Vegan Caramels at Group Recipes

My first "Sugar High Friday"

If you don't often read food blogs you might want to go here to learn what a "Sugar High Friday" is.

This month's theme is Pies That Evoke Your Dreams.
Sound delicious? Make a contribution to a non-profit helping to transform the world of food through pie- Pie Ranch. Please specify "Pie Ranch/Green Oaks Fund” in the "Designation" field of the online donation form (Pie Ranch is fiscally sponsored by the Rudolph Steiner Foundation) at: http://tinyurl.com/3bmn4c
You can also see all the other pie contributions at the round-up which will be published on February 29th at vampituity.blogspot.com.

I decided to play around with a variation on apple pie. I found a recipe for apple custard pie that used brown sugar flavored corn syrup. I thought Lyle's Golden Syrup would be a good change. (Alex loves golden syrup on his pancakes!) Then I added seeds from a vanilla bean to give the custard a strong vanilla taste. The result is a VERY rich pie similar to a butter tart with apples. (Butter tarts are deliciously evil, sweet, corn syrup, egg and butter concoctions found primarily in Canada). Improvements I would make are: I think it would have made individual tarts and added walnuts or pecans. I also would have made sure to press the top layer of apples into the custard, I pressed a little but not enough.
Enjoy!

Apple Custard Pie
Makes 1 pie, crust recipe follows.
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn starch
Seeds from one vanilla bean
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter OR margarine, melted (I used Earth Balance tub)
3/4 cup golden syrup
1/4 cup milk (I used Silk soymilk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large cooking apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust*
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, optional
1.Preheat oven to 375°F.
2.Combine sugar and corn starch and vanilla seeds in medium bowl.
3.Whisk in eggs. Stir in butter, golden syrup, milk and vanilla.
4. Fold in half of apples. Pour into pie crust.
5. Place remaining apples in overlapping circle on top of pie. Press down gently until custard covers the top layer of apples a little. Sprinkle with walnuts, if desired.
6. Bake for 50 minutes or until center of pie is set. Check and cover crust edges with foil if they get too golden.
7. Cool on wire rack. Eat. Refrigerate leftovers.

The Crust:
Enough for a double-crust pie or two single-crust pies. You could halve this recipe if you have no use for the extra dough.
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) Earth Balance Buttery Spread*
3 cups all-purpose flour**I used White Lily AP Flour which is still softer than most
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water
*The stick Earth Balance seems to work a lot better in pie crust than the tub version. I suspect it has more palm oil due to a slightly higher saturated fat content.
**I used White Lily AP Flour which is still softer than most AP brands.

1. Dice the fats and place them in the freezer while you prepare the flour mixture. (But not more than 3-4 minutes)
2. Place the flour, salt, and sugar the food processor pulse to mix.
3. Add the chilled fats and pulse 8 to 12 times, until the largest piece of fat is the size of a pea.
4. Simultaneously, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Cut the dough in half. Roll one half on a floured board into a circle and place in a pie pan. Chill the dough in the pie pan for 30 minutes.