Chocolate Pavlova
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Martha Stewart Living, January 2009
- Yield Serves 8 to 10
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Ingredients
To Assemble
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/4 cup dark-brown sugar
- 3/4 cup superfine sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
- Dark-Chocolate Cream
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
- Milk-Chocolate Curls, for garnish
Directions
- Make the meringue: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Draw an 8-inch circle on parchment, then flip. Mix whites, sugars, and salt in a mixer bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugars dissolve and mixture is warm, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
- Sift cocoa powder over meringue, and fold until barely any streaks remain. Using an offset spatula or a large spoon, spread meringue into a round, using circle as a guide. (Be careful not to spread out too much; meringue will spread more during baking.) Form a well in center, being careful not to spread meringue too thin.
- Bake meringue until dry to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool on sheet on wire rack. Meringue will keep, covered, for up to 1 day.
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To assemble pavlova: Spread dark-chocolate cream evenly in center of meringue, leaving a 1/2-inch border from edge. Spread whipped cream over chocolate cream. Garnish with chocolate curls, and serve immediately.
I made this for my book club's Christmas meeting and everyone devoured it! I wasn't sure how it would be, and it was my first time making merengue or pavlova, but it was awesome and I will definitely be making it again! I wouldn't attempt it without a kitchenaid mixer, it made my work so easy! The only tricky part was spreading the merengue into the circle, the parchment kept pulling up. Also, I just made a simple chocolate ganache for the chocolate topping.