Pluot Pinwheel Tart

This recipe is simple, yet delicious. This is a recipe from the July 2009 Bon Appetit Magazine. It is made with pluots, which are a cross between and apricot and a plum. The combination is fantastic together.

The high point in this recipe is the crust. The crust cannot be missed, so don't exchange the crust for some other crust you think would work better. Between the crust and the fruit is a meringue layer, which crisps up during baking. It was excellent warm (no one could wait for it to cool, it looked too good) and cool. Pluots were a pleasant surprise, and I am excited to try other recipes featuring this wonderful fruit.

Three Layer Brown Sugar and Berry Pavlova

This is a fantastic recipe from the July 2009 Gourmet Magazine. For those of you who don't know, a pavlova is a meringue with cream and berries. It is an Australian/New Zealand dessert which is named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.

The pavlova was just heavenly. I made it for the Fourth of July. The unusual addition of brown sugar in the meringue gave it a melt in your mouth texture. The recipe calls for no sugar in the cream, and I was a bit hesitant about not putting any in, but I am glad I didn't. The meringue and the macerated berries were very sweet, but not overpoweringly. The cream acted as a sort of balancer between the two. I would make it again, and I am making it again right now for a picnic in the park.