I didn’t plan to make three desserts over the holidays… I planned to make one.
It all started innocently enough with crème brûlée. The kind that feels festive but calm. Nothing extravagant — just a proper, classic dessert for the holidays.
And then I counted the eggs. Sixteen egg yolks. Which meant sixteen egg whites sitting there, staring at me from the bowl.
I don’t waste food. It’s not a rule I’ve written down anywhere — it’s just how I live. So suddenly, one dessert quietly turned into a responsibility. The crème brûlée came first, of course. Silky, comforting, exactly what it’s meant to be. No drama there. But once it was done, the real question appeared:
What now?
Egg whites don’t wait patiently. They demand a decision.
Chocolate mousse felt like the logical next step. Something soft and indulgent, easy to spoon, easy to love. It used up a good portion of those whites and felt like a gift rather than a solution. A dessert that didn’t need an occasion — it became one.
And still… There were six whites left.
At that point, there was only one path left. Pavlova. Light, crisp, and completely unapologetic about using egg whites in bulk. It wasn’t planned, but somehow it fit the moment perfectly — airy after heavy meals, sweet without being too much, festive in its own quiet way.
By the time I got to the pavlova stage, I was so tired that I completely forgot to take any photos of the process.
Over the days, we ate all the desserts!
Ilze
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a day in the life of a latvian mom 
Sixteen eggs! separated! wowsers! that all looks absolutely delicious.
Happy New Year! xx
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Thnak you, Happy New Year 🙂
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Well, pavlova being the quintessential Australian dessert we all love and regard as relatively ‘healthy’ as far as sweets go surely was the main reason you made the first dessert, wasn’t it 🙂 🙂 🙂 ?
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Lovely! For how long do you typically bake the pavlova? I think mine was so big that I had to double the cooking time. I didn’t 🙂
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Ilze – depends on the size of course, but > our usual rule is a very slow oven of 110-120C for 1 1/2 hours (90 mins) roughly, then leaving the pavlova in the oven turned off with possibly the door just a tad ajar for at least a few hours or even overnight so it does not crack! Haven’t made one awhile so this is just the usual ‘teaching’ here.
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How many egg whites usually? 3?
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We are advised 4 for a usual tin or up to 6 for a large one > actually (and this is a nuisance I know) we are often taught to weigh the egg whites > 210gm for the usual size, up to 250gm for larger since eggs can differ quite a bit > yours, if I remember correctly, are from your own well-fed chickens, so they might be heavier ?
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Thank you! I never measure egg whites (or eggs) 🙂 I’m buying from a relative, who has only one client – me 🙂 Since he is retired, I’m happy to pay for true free range eggs 🙂
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