They sound similar to pavlova, which is a wonderful base for fresh strawberries. April is the only month you might find decent California strawberries, when the Chandler variety is harvested. Maybe a fruit sorbet instead of ice cream?

Your menu reads on the sweet side, to me, though the main dishes sound well balanced. The cookies also sound sweet. Being a birthday, cake and ice cream are expected. The cookies will sub for cake nicely, but I totally get your motivation for ice cream, and why you thought it was too sweet. It wasn't clear if you made them, if not conider no churn ice cream. If you make it, you get the scatch points, sure, but you can also control the sweet. The cookies need the sugar structurally. Ice cream doesn't. Saffron seems like it would be great with the cookies. Or fresh mint ice cream. Or pepper pot. Somthing with lots od savory flavor which will still play second fiddle to the cookies. I think other kinds of goo would be too sweet.

Re serving vessels, why not check the discount store for something colorful, pretty and fun to serve in which the guests could take home as party favors, like a colorful margarita glass, or transparent plastic neon treasure chests, of see you in St. Louie plates...

Pillog, funny you should mention Margarita glasses. Just pulled out my chargers, and stumbled upon margarita glasses I haven’t used since pre-covid. The menu does lean sweet but temps are in the 80s this week, so while I think it feels summery, your point is well taken. And I do love saffron.

Eileen, at first i doubted the strawberry pairing, but after setting the table I sat down with a bowl of berries, a cookie, and glass of milk— it’s delish together!

We have a great gelateria nearby, I’ll head there tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestions!

How about an Eton Mess as a replacement for the meringues?

I've never thought of our cookies as being elegant. Powerful, fun, baffling, transcendental, but not elegant. Hmmm...if we add gold leaf or crystal sprinkles, will that suffice for elegance?

It is delish! It's been a few years since I've made pavlova but I'm going to make it when our wonderful Oregon strawberries are ripe in June. I top the pavlova and strawberries with whipped cream, just like shortcake.

I love Eton Mess, it is my go-to. But you have already made these and they sound fantastic and I would not break them up into an Eton Mess.

I would arrange them in a mound on a footed cakestand, perhaps decorated with edible flowers and mint or some other sort of garnish. Then I would serve mixed berries in the martini glasses, maybe with a drizzle of Cointreau.

I adore your menu and I think it is well balanced --- the salad has acid from the citrus and the pepperiness of arugula with the richness of burrata (I am all in on that one). I don't care for salmon, but once again the maple is offset by smokiness and nuts.

Have a wonderful lunch!

fawnridge (Ricky)I guess I was just thinking not your average cookies and milk dessert. Love your description. These cookies are all that.

Islay Corbel and mtnrdredux_gw, I don't know Eton Mess, always wanted to make it. The luncheon is tomorrow, so I'll be making another batch of these cookies tonight. They are so simple and I love the night before prep. The morning should be a breeze. All I need to do is plate the salad, pop the tray of salmon on the grill, and fill glasses.

Bumblebeez SC Zone 7, I'm a big desset fan. I always ask to see the dessert menu before I order so I can pace myself...

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/eton-mess-recipe-1937474

I tend to use a lot more fruit and relatively more merginue cookies, but this is more of an assemblage than a recipe! Oh and, IMHO, never make Eton Mess with store bought meringues unless you can get them from a trusted bakery.

This is tempting! Practicing with the leftover cookies this afternoon, will keep you posted!

really? I think it is a waste to mash them up! Plain ones, yes but these? Save me a whole one ok? : )

“I love Eton Mess, it is my go-to.”

👍🏻!

Eton Mess Q:

Does it need to be assembled immediately before serving, or can it sit for an hour or so? Assuming I can mix the berries and cream and add the crumbled meringues before plating.

I would not add anything in advance. The meringues will get soggy, and the berries will leach juice into the cream, rendering the while thing pink. It really is very quick to add and plate

In case I wasn’t the only one looking for the Nigella cookie recipe.

Nigellas cookies

Eton Mess is one of those things which is more than the sum of its parts. It's ridiculously simple. Make your meringues very crisp and keep dry. Whip your top quality cream. Halve your in-season delicious strawberries. You can assemble just before you sit down to the first course but it won't keep very long. Don't mix the strawberries and cream. Layer it all very loosely. It should be just a tumble of the three things. Let the alchemy do the rest. The quality of the ingredients is very important. Don't try to 'improve' it with additional stuff or try to make it less calorific.

I make it a few times a year.

Far easier than pavlova imo because the meringue is broken intentionally, not through my incompetence.

What Floral said. It really is a sublime dessert that is all about the ingredients.

But I cannot resist saying again, I would not make this with the pistachio cardamon if you already have those. They should stand alone IMHO.

I like Pavlova but i find its success to be very weather-dependent. Sometimes too hard, sometimes too chewy, sometimes too crumbly. And yes I have read all of the tricks. I used to think it was me, but I have a favorite bakery near our beachhouse that makes their own lovely meringues, and they tell me they only make them when the weather is hospitable.

I made a modified Eton Mess with the last "test batch" cookie, and it's really delicious. Wish I hadn't "tested" so many with ice cream, this is so much better.

I omitted the pomegranate since I didn't want to overpower the cardamom. I think a bit of rosewater in the berries would be delicious, but that's for another day. If the cookies turn out well tomorrow, I think I will go the berry/martini glass route, with the cookies on a pedestal with roses/ petals. If they are dry, I might crumble into an Eton Mess with a touch of almond in the whipped cream. Unorthodox, I know, but the organic California strawberries I picked up (thanks Eileen) don't need much help, and allow the aromatic spice to shine.

Thanks team! If you make Nigella's Forgotten Cookies, let me know what you think! For the record, I used salted and roasted pistachios (omitted the pinch of salt from the recipe) and 60% dark chocolate.

I would love to make those cookies but I think I am the only one who would like them so, no bueno. Question - how prominent is the cardamom flavor? I usually like my meringues plain.

I think these cookies could be an elegant dessert, especially if you decorate them with tiny silver sugar balls, like the ones used on wedding cakes.

I would use coconut butter for the vegan butter or just use regular butter.

For me, I don't care how "elegant" or "delicious" a cookie is, it's still a cookie and I would resent having a cookie for dessert, dammit. lol

I will sometimes bake Glenda’s Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie for family. It makes a great dessert with or without ice cream, and now DD informs me that her sons will stir one up when they have an attack of the hungries. It is quick to mix up and will bake while you eat dinner.

Reporting back! Everything went off without a hitch. Except for the cookies lol. The night-before-prepped salmon is an amazing recipe. Recipe universally requested. The salad is delicious, and so pretty plated with the salmon—pistachios across both.

The Cookies. Piled high on a pedestal. Gorgeous. Martini glass filled with berries and piped almond whipped cream set on a pretty dessert plate, cookie on side of plate. Delicious.

But they baked up a bit crispier than the test batch (weather?) and crumbled when bitten into. Also, in my exuberance I sprinkled more chocolate on the top than on the test batch, and it was coming off on our hands. Luckily I had employed my trick of tucking a real-feel paper napkin inside my cloth napkins, rolling them together into the napkin ring. All around me I saw linen trousers and white dresses, chocolatey hands, and thankfully chocolate laden paper napkins carefully resting on top of the barrier cloth napkins, keeping the chocolate off the pretty outfits.

Still, everyone ate their entire cookie, right down to the crumbs. We all eyed the pedestal. We all thought about it. I ate a few more after everyone left. Not sure I'd serve them again like this. They were amazing in the test Modified Eton Mess. I would go that route next time.

@mtnrdredux_gw, they taste more pistachio than cardamom. It's a simple recipe so I think it's worth trying. They'll be a staple for me, but I'll only sprinkle pistachios on top, no chocolate.

As a recipe note, I used half the amount of chocolate called for, and instead of chips I grated a 60% dark chocolate bar. I used a heavy hand when measuring the pistachio.

I whipped the cream early in the morning, filled a disposable piping bag and stood it in a glass in the fridge. Right before serving I snipped the bag, put the tip on, and no muss, easy peasy filled the martini glasses.

Thanks for playing along everyone! Wish I could send you all a care package of Forgotten Cookies!

@sheilajoyce_gw, is this the recipe? https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3875953/giant-chocolate-chip-cookie#n=8