#312_Mercedez-Pavlova Pie

Mercedez-Pavlova Pie
This is what happens when Pavlova crosses the path of (Brazo ni) Mecedez...

For those who are not familiar with Pavlova and Brazo de Mercedez,
let me give you a little background of each....

Pavlova: from what I understand, this is a very popular dessert in Australia and New Zealand and is the latter's national dessert. It has a meringue for the base which is crusty on the outside and marshmallow-y inside due to the addition of cornstarch in the egg white mixture. It is baked in a low temp oven for almost 1 hour which makes the top of the meringue dry and crispy. The meringue is then filled with sweetened whipped cream and topped with fresh fruits. (See more on Wikipedia, click here).

Brazo de Mercedez: is an all-time Filipino favorite dessert inspired by the Spanish cuisine. "Brazo" meaning arm, Brazo de Mercedez is literally translated as arm of Mercedez... or in other words, an arm of a lady named Mercedez.

This dessert, like the Pavlova, has a meringue base, but it is rolled like a Swiss Roll. However, unlike the Pavlova, the meringue for the Brazo de Mercedez is soft so it can be rolled up. It has a custard filling usually made of egg yolks and condensed milk.

Hybrid
A cross between Pavlova and Brazo de Mercedez.

This is what I came up with after deconstructing both desserts and put their elements together plus my own version of the pastry cream added some pizzazz to the finished product.

Now we have this dessert that is somewhat Pavlova with custard filling instead of whipped cream. It is a flat version of Brazo de Mercedez with fresh fruits and with Coconut Custard Cream Filling, instead of the traditional egg yolk-condensed milk filling. Anyway, here's how I did it....

Meringue:
6 egg whites (room temp)
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar 3/4 cup white sugar

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form..
Gradually beat in sugar.
Continue beating until stiff and glossy.

For a personal size pie...
1) Line a large baking sheet with a parchment paper.
2) Draw two 9" circles on the parchment paper, then flip the paper so the pencil mark is facing down.
3) Spoon meringue into the circles drawn on parchment paper.

Bake meringue in a pre-heated 300 degrees for about 35 minutes. Let cool.
(I like mine baked longer as I don't want an egg-y tasting meringue)


Coconut Custard Cream Filling:
(from recipe #160, click here)
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup fresh milk
1 cup coconut
cream 6 egg yolks, slightly beaten

In a sauce pan, combine the sugar and flour and pour in the milk and the coconut cream and stir until the flour is totally dissolved. Turn stove on medium and cook the mixture until it becomes bubbly, stirring constantly, then turn the heat down to medium low and continue to stir. (I didn't have to cook this in a double boiler). Actually this is the only hard part of making this dessert.... constantly stirring the mixture, but in a way, this makes a good work out for the arm!

Take the pan off the heat and, pour in the egg yolks little by little, continuously stirring the mixture. Make sure not to get impatient and pour in the yolks more than a tablespoon at a time, otherwise you'll end up with scrambled eggs.

When all the yolk is added in to the mixture, return the pan to the stove and continue to cook, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens but spreadable like the consistency of mayonnaise.

Spread cream filling on baked meringue.

Top with your favorite fruit combo

Mango Coconut Custard Tart...
http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/07/160incredible-mango-custard-tart.html
another way to top the meringue.

I baked the meringue in a pie pan and filled with the
Coconut Custard Cream Filling mixed with cubed mangoes
then topped with thin slices of mangoes.
Mmmmmm, irresistibly delish!!

ENJOY!!!

#196_Brazo de Mercedes with a Big Twist

Brazo de Mercedes turned into a pie!

I still need to come up with a good name for this dessert. It is kind of a heinz 57 thing where I put everything I love in one pie, i.e. mangoes, custard, coconut cream and meringue.

The idea is taken from Brazo de Mercedes, but instead of rolled, the meringue is baked in a pie tin then filled with custard cream filling, hence a Pie. The cream filling, click here, has coconut cream and home made mango jam, then mounded some shaved fresh mangoes on top. Sorry, I don't have time to write down the recipe right now. I'm making this for our Fundraising Event on Saturday.

For Custard Cream filling recipe, click here.

#165_Sushi Style Biko with Mango Custard Cream Filling

Mangoes + Brazo de Mercedes + Biko + Sushi=
A fantastic dessert

Not quite Heinz 57, but this is one "mixed-up" dessert!

For those not familiar with Brazo de Mercedes, it is a very popular dessert in the Philippines
made with baked meringue filled with custard cream, then rolled up like pumpkin roll cake or jelly roll. Here's some of the pictures, click here.

Biko is another favorite dessert in the Philippines made of glutinous rice, cooked in coconut cream and sugar. Click here.

To make this dessert, you'll need:

1 recipe for Biko without any topping
1 recipe for Custard Cream Filling
1 ripe mango, sliced lengthwise

The beauty of this dessert is that the main ingredients, the biko and cream filling, can be made ahead of time then refrigerated.
Before serving, just heat them in the microwave. You can even assemble it in front of our guests. It is that easy to make.

I modified the method for making Biko just for this recipe as I'm using it to roll up the mango filling, and it is not going back to the oven.

Here's how I did it:

This is just a half of the recipe
Please refer to recipe #7, click here, how to make Biko.

After cooking the glutinous rice in the rice cooker, dissolve 1 cup brown sugar in a 1/2 a can of coconut

milk, in a pan over medium heat. Bring it up to a boil. Stir in the cooked rice and continue to cook until it dries up and rice is fully cooked.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap on a work surface. On the plastic wrap spread some of the cooked rice into rectangle and spread some of the Custard Cream Filling. Arrange some sliced mangoes on the cream.

Roll up the filled rice just like rolling a jelly roll cake

Cut the rolled up Biko into about 2-inch thickness

Serve them on a plate with the cut sides up.
Put some more cream filling and cubes of mangoes on top.
Thin down the cream filling with milk
so you can drizzle it easily on top.

This is the best kind of mangoes to use for this dessert.
ENJOY!!

NOTE from MaMely:
For the custard cream filling, I used 1 whole can of coconut cream instead of 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup coconut cream.