Caramel Banana Cream Pie Pavlova

I did not want to get up this morning! We watched The Switch last night and I did not end up going to sleep until midnight. I still got up at 6am to get my workout in, and ironically, it was a good one, but I have a feeling today is going to be a hard one to get through. The movie is great! It's the first one in about a month we didn't turn off for being so bad. Jason Bateman was incredible in it. The kid in the movie nails it too. Seriously, the illustrator and I both recommend it!

I could stick my face straight into that bowl!

Now, let's talk sweets! Anyone who reads this regularly or knows me...knows I LOVE meringue! So fluffy, high protein and well sweet! I have a little less guilt for the sweet treat since I cut the sugar some with stevia. I decided to do things a little differently this time and make mini pavlovas. I loved how my seven minute icing baked on my lemon meringue pie so much that I wanted to try a version on its own. These were like angel food cake and seven minute icing had a baby.

I love the rustic look of the lumpy cookies. I did that so I could get pudding all in the nooks and crannys. Also with the meringue baked there were parts that would crispy and parts that were gooey.

Crispy bottom!

We had bananas that weren't banana bread material yet, so I thought caramel banana cream pie would be a good choice on flavors.

I used my pastry cream recipe and used brown sugar instead of regular sugar to give it a caramel flavor. This pudding is so thick and creamy!

We had some plain with graham cracker crumbs sprinkled on top...

then we loaded them up with bananas! 

You would think this would be heavy and too much, but really the pavlova was such a nice light compliment to the rich caramel pastry cream.

Since I am not a huge fan of pie crust, this was perfect for me!

Mini Pavlova
(makes 14)

3/4 cup egg whites
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cups sugar (granulated or super fine)
1 TBSP cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 dropper vanilla stevia (I use NuNaturals)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a clean mixing boil (important to get the egg whites fluffy) mix the egg whites until they are at soft peaks. Next add the lemon juice and continue to mix. While the mixer is still running gradually add the sugar mixture a little bit at a time. Then add the dropper of stevia. Continue mixing until the egg whites are at stiff peaks and glossy.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, scoop about a half cup of meringue and shape it carefully to the shape you want. Bake for 20 minutes and then turn the oven off and crack it open, leaving the pavlova in the oven to cool. Cook them in the oven for 30 minutes or as long as you would like.

**To make the pavlovas less browned, you can bake them at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. For this recipes, I wanted the slightly toasted flavor.


Caramel Pastry Cream
(makes 1 3/4 cups)

1 1/2 cups almond milk
3 egg yolks
7 TBSP brown sugar
4 TBSP cornstarch
15 drops vanilla stevia (I use NuNaturals)

In a small sauce pan, heat the almond milk to a boil.  Remove the milk from the heat and set it aside.  In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and brown sugar until it is fluffy and pale in color.  Next add the cornstarch to the egg mixture and whisk until there are no lumps.  Now, whisk a little bit of milk into the egg mixture and mix completely. Slowly pour the rest of the milk into the egg mixture while it is being whisked. Next, pour the egg mixture through an strainer back into the sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes just to a boil and it has thickened.  Take off the heat and stir in the stevia. Pour into a container, cover the top of the pastry cream with plastic wrap sprayed with a little cooking spray(directly on it so it does not form a skin).  Allow to cool.  If you are going to use it immediately, just leave it out.  If it will be a while, refrigerate it and remove it about an hour before using.

I am sharing this on Simply Sugar and Gluten Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.