They cook up like waffles- only much thinner and crispier.

They are crunchy and aromatic and taste like anise.

You make them two at a time- so it takes a LONG time to make 3 1/2 dozen.  It takes

twice as long to make 7 dozen and you burn a lot if you get involved in multi-tasking.

But when everything goes right and they come out golden and delicious- they can

be addicting.  My husband ate 5 while we were talking about the upcoming wedding

of our nephew the other day.  He had his hand out for the sixth and I asked him to

slow down- he was eating them faster than I could make them!

So- here’s the recipe I used.

3 large eggs

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 tsp anise extract

1 tsp  vanilla

1/2 cup melted butter

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

small pinch of salt

Beat the eggs and sugar together until  all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is

just a little stringy.  Add vanilla and anise extract ( you can leave out the anise if you

prefer just a vanilla flavor).  Add just a bit of the melted butter, beat it in well and then

add the rest of the butter.  Sift together the flour and baking powder and add !/4  cup at

a time with your mixer on low so that the flour doesn’t jump back up at you.

Add salt at end and give it one more mix. 

Preheat the pizzelle iron- waiting until the red light turns green and then lightly oil and

place one largish teaspoon of batter ( it will be rather stiff) into the center of the round.

Close down lid and wait until the light turns red and then back to green and open top- about 2 minutes.

Place on wire cooling rack until stiff and cooled and then stack them up!

I only paid about $12 for the iron a couple of years ago- it was a good investment!

It was Thanksgiving today in America!

I made my usual sausage and walnut stuffing.

And 4 dozen dinner rolls.

And a pumpkin pie.

But it was also the 36th anniversary of our wedding for my husband and myself-

and I had my heart set on this-

a Berry Meringue tart!

I got the recipe here at cityhippiefarmgirl’s  blog.  And I’ve been thinking about it

ever since.   Meredith was here for our celebration and since her next stop is Canberra,

Australia, I decided to make a version of the Pavlova for her.

Pavlova’s are a distinctly Australian ( and New Zealand) treat and they usually don’t

have a pastry shell.  But Brydie’s looked so good I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

I started off with a short pastry crust- I made a regular pie dough ( 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 stick

cold butter, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 cup ice water) and then I rolled it out and place another stick of

unsalted butter in a thin layer on the dough.  Then I folded it in thirds, and then folded

it into thirds again and refrigerated it.  When it was cold I took it out and rolled it out and

placed it into a deep dish pie plate and baked it after scoring the surface with a fork in

quite a few places.

When it cooled I mixed together whipped cream and marscapone cheese and about 1/4

cup sugar and put a light layer of this on the bottom of the crust.

Then I made meringues-

and placed them on top of the layer of cream and cheese.

And then I piled the rest of the whipped cream mixture on top,

added the berries and sprinkled sugar over the top.

It was delicious!  I cut the tart into 10 pieces and the adults all

had a piece.  Most had never had Pavlova before- and they loved

it!  I am making this again.  Maybe for Christmas.

The blackberries and strawberries made a stunning display- and were perfect together.

Because this is my new favorite dessert!

Thanks, Brydie!