When Nespresso asked me to create a recipe with a lesser carbon footprint and its coffee Vertuo Master Origin Colombia Fairtrade (100% Fairtrade coffee), I couldn’t resist taking the challenge and loved it !
I thought about different recipes to reduce my carbon footprint. And thought about making a pavlova with coffee cream, crème de marron, pears and caramelized chestnuts.
This Colombian coffee, from the Aguadas region, with notes of red berries and a light point of very pleasant acidity (typical of Colombian coffees) pairs pretty well and contrast divinely with the sweetness of the pavlova and its cream.
To reduce my carbon footprint, coffee was not into my radar as my cup was already carbon neutral .
Every single Nespresso cup drunk in France is 100% carbon neutral as the company’s sustainable development program is, among other things, all about developing agroforestry in Colombia, Guatemala, Uganda and Ethiopia, collaborating with a social company called purproject . Amongst many advantages of local species development : biodiversity protection, carbon dioxide reduction, exceptional quality of the coffee cherry growing under the shade, additional income for the farmers who can either sell their wood or eat their fruits (some of the planted trees can be fruit trees).
The trees are not just being planted and left without care; they are being watched by the farmers themselves and also agronomists till they are 30 years old. Every seed being planted follows sustainable development techniques allowing the coffee fields to be passed to future generations.
Besides agroforestry, Nespresso has developed a large capsule recycling program: every capsule can be recycled (without any plastic bag or packaging, in bulk) in the yellow recycling garbage container, or stored in a recycling bag and given to a Nespresso store or to a store that has joined the recycling program.
As for the other local, sustainable and seasonal ingredients: the egg whites for the meringues are coming from our hens in our hen house, the pears are seasonal on the market stalls and coming from small local farms such as the chestnuts (the ones that I added and that I did not pick on my morning walk in the forest), the cream comes from a nearby farm.
And last but not least, every single leaf or flower on this set up and these pictures are seasonal and picked by very own hands during my walks near my home at the countryside.
@nespresso.fr #NespressoAgit
Ingredients :
- For a disk of 17 cms and an approx. height of 3,5 à 4 cms, you will need 200g white sugar and 100g egg whites
- 1 William or Conférence pear, peeled, cored and diced
- 3 tbsp Chestnut sweet puree (very French, I bought mine, but you can your own by following a recipe on a French cooking website under ‘crème de marrons’)
- 200g “crème fouettée” made of 150g cream / 25g icing sugar and a vanilla pod
- 50g crème fraîche
- 200g cooked chestnuts
Recipe:
- The day before, preheat your oven to 248°FIn a blender, mix the egg whites to create a meringue with the sugarOnce ready, create some circles about 17 cms large (diameter) and 3,4 to 4cms wide with a pastry bagBake the disks for4h and leave to cool down
- Clean the chestnuts and make a slight insert in each one with your knifeCook them for 30 minutes in boiling water and peel them with a knife before turning them into small chunks with your fingers or a knifeIn a pan, heat one tbsp butter and 3 tbsp sugar. Heat up till you start getting a caramel and add the chestnut bits. Stir well so they are well coated. Set aside
- Prepare the chantilly with a electric mixer and add slowly the crème fraîcheAdd 33 cl of cold coffee in the crème and set aside
- Peel and dice the pear
- Start building the pavlovaLay the first disk on a plate then top evenly with crème, pear dices and caramelized chestnuts and crème de marronTop with the second disk and follow the same process. Same for the last one on top
Finish with bits of pears and caramelized chestnuts