Difficulty: 1/5
This dessert is easy and delicious, perfect for Valentine’s or Galentine’s day. A pavlova is a cooked meringue with cream and fruit. In this case I made a chocolate cream to make it more interesting. You can make the meringues ahead of time and keep them at room temperature in a sealed container so they don’t go soggy. You can leave the cream mixed with all the ingredients in the fridge so it’s nice and cold when you use it, and whip it right before serving.
Portions: 10individual pavlovas
Ingredients:
For the meringue
– 90g egg whites (3 approx)
– 180g sugar
For the chocolate cream:
– 300ml whipping cream straight from the fridge
– 2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
– 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
– 5 tbsp icing sugar
– Berries and icing sugar to garnish
Procedure:
1. We’re going to make a french meringue. Make sure that our bowl and whisk are completely clean. Any residue of fat will prevent the egg whites from foaming. The same happens with the yolk: make sure there’s no trace of it in your egg whites. Use an electric mixer to foam up the egg whites until there’s no liquid left at the bottom. Add the sugar while whisking and keep beating until you can make stiff peaks with the meringue. Be mindful not to eat this meringue as it is since the egg has not yet been cooked.
2. Using 2 spoons, put about 1.5 tbsp of meringue on baking paper and make a nest (see video for a better reference), do a small hole in the center so you can fit more cream afterwards. I like to use spoons, but you can use a decorating tip in a bag if you prefer for a different finish.
3. Take them to the oven at 120C for 1.5 hours or until they are nice and dry (have one you can control the cooking with). This way they will turn out nice and white. Higher temperature (no higher than 150C) will turn them golden if you prefer.
4. Let them cool completely and here’s when you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature until you can use it.
5. For the cream, put everything in a bown and whip it until it has a nice and smooth texture, only until it does a semi-strong peak, so it doesn’t look like chocolate butter.
6. Let’s put it together! Put the cream on the meringue and decorate with berries and icing sugar.
I hope that you have a lovely Valentine’s day; this is so much better than buying someone an expensive gift! Just make sure to buy a nice bottle of wine to go with it ;).
