Chocolate pavlova

ingredients

• Chocolate pavlova

  • 6 egg whites from large free range eggs, at room temperature
  • 350 gram caster sugar
  • 4 tablespoon NESTLÉ BAKERS’ CHOICE Cocoa
  • 2 teaspoon cornflour
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 cup NESTLÉ BAKERS’ CHOICE Dark Choc Bits
  • pinch of salt

• Cream

  • 600 millilitre cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoon icing sugar

• Dipped fruit

  • 1 pack of NESTLÉ BAKERS' CHOICE Dark Melts
  • 2 or 3 cups of fresh fruit such as raspberries, strawberries, cherries (pitted)

method

• Chocolate pavlova

  • 1

    Preheat the oven to bake 180C. Line two baking trays with baking paper and draw a circle 20cm in diameter on both pieces of paper.

  • 2

    Place the egg whites in a large, clean, grease-free bowl. Add the salt and beat with a mixer until the egg whites look glossy and form stiff peaks.

  • 3

    Whisk in the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking well after each addition.

  • 4

    Keep whisking until the egg whites hold their stiff peaks. (The meringue should stay in the bowl if you tip it upside down).

  • 5

    Sift the NESTLÉ BAKERS’ CHOICE Cocoa and cornflour over the top, sprinkle over the NESTLÉ BAKERS’ CHOICE Dark Choc Bits and gently fold through with the vinegar.

  • 6

    Divide the mixture between the two drawn circles, spreading to the edges of your circle and smoothing the top flat with a spatula.

  • 7

    Place both trays in the oven for 5 minutes before turning the temperature down to 120C.

  • 8

    Bake for a further hour until the outer is crisp to touch. Turn the oven off and leave the pavlovas in the oven with the door closed for at least 2 hours or overnight.

• Cream

  • 1

    Whip the cream, vanilla and icing sugar together in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer until soft peaks form. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure the cream is evenly whipped. Continue whipping if required, but do not over whip as the cream can turn grainy. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.

• Dipped fruit

  • 1

    Wash and dry your fruit.

  • 2

    Place the NESTLÉ BAKERS’ CHOICE Dark Melts in a heatproof bowl, set over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Leave for a few minutes before mixing slowly to combine. Stir over the heat until all the chocolate has melted.

  • 3

    Take off the heat and dip the pieces of fruit one at a time into the melted chocolate. Lay the dipped fruit onto a piece of baking paper to dry. Continue until you have dipped at least half of your fruit.

  • 4

    Tip the left over melted chocolate onto a clean flat baking tray and using a palette knife spread the chocolate out to the edges until flat and it looks like it is starting to set. Using a metal pastry scraper or spatula scrape areas of the chocolate away from you to create curls of chocolate.

• To assemble

  • 1

    Remove the baking paper from the bottom of the meringues and place one onto your cake board or plate.

  • 2

    Spread large dollops of the cream over the top of the meringue using a palette knife or spatula, keeping a 1cm border of meringue around the edge. Neatly place the undipped berries over the top of the cream.

  • 3

    Carefully place the second meringue on top so that it sits parallel with the bottom meringue. Spread large dollops of the cream over the top of the meringue and decorate with the dipped berries and chocolate curls.

  • 4

    Before serving dust with a small amount of NESTLÉ BAKERS’ CHOICE Cocoa.