Chocolate raspberry pavlova

Thanks to the Library Lady for introducing me to Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova, a fantastic recipe by Nigella Lawson. I love Nigella’s website since with a click of a mouse, you can get recipes in either metric or US measurements. Since I have a sister in Switzerland, this is very handy. She often wants to send me recipes but converting them is a bit haphazard.

While Library Lady made hers with strawberries, I’ll wait until later this summer when raspberries come into season. I’m always on the lookout for raspberry recipes. The four little raspberry plant sticks that came to us via mail order have now taken over the garden and is beginning to take over the side yard. Big Bad Dad finds new raspberry branches popping up in the grass two feet from the rest of the bushes. It’s wonderful having buckets and buckets of raspberries every summer, but not if the plants turn into a small jungle.

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova
By Nigella Lawson
Serves 8-10

Ingredients for the chocolate meringue base:

• 6 egg whites
• one and a half cups superfine sugar
• 3 tablespoons best quality cocoa powder, sieved
• 1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Ingredients for the topping:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4 cups raspberries
• 2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated bittersweet chocolate

How to Make:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Beat the egg whites until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.
3. Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar, and the chopped chocolate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in.
4. Mound on to a baking sheet in a fat circle approximately 9 inches in diameter, smoothing the sides and top.
5. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300 and cook for about one to one and a quarter hours. When it’s ready it should look crisp around the edges and on the sides and be dry on top, but when you prod the centre you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers.
6. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue disc cool completely.
7. When you’re ready to serve, invert on to a big, flat-bottomed plate.
8. Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter over the raspberries.
9. Coarsely grate the chocolate so that you get curls rather than rubble, as you don’t want the raspberries’ luscious colour and form to be obscured, and sprinkle haphazardly over the top, letting some fall, as it will, on the plate’s rim.

Posted on May 30, 2006 in Baking,Desserts,Recipes and tagged as cakes, chocolate

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