I love meringue. So of course I love a classic pavlova too.
Pavlova is an easy dessert to vary. You can use strawberries and cream, chocolate, fruits, nuts, cookies… Whatever you want! And it’s always delicious. This time I wanted to make a rich flavoured chocolate cherry coffee pavlova. So good.
Making a pavlova takes some time, but it’s still very simple. Only thing that takes a lot of time is baking the meringue in the oven. And I promise it’s worth of that time.
Chocolate Cherry Pavlova
serves 8
takes 2 hours and 20 minutes to make
Ingredients
Meringue:
7 egg whites
1½ cups (350 ml) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1,5 tbsp cocoa powder
Filling:
1¼ cups (300 ml) whipping cream
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp espresso coffee
a handful of pecans
100 g dark chocolate
two handfuls of cherries
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Place a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray. Draw two circles (I made the other one a little bit bigger).
Whisk the egg whites in a big bowl. It’s easier to do it with a mixer (but you can do it with an eggbeater too.) Whisk until the whites form firm peaks. Add the sugar while mixing, a little bit at a time. Whisk until the meringue mixture is white and glossy. (A classic way to test if the meringue mixture is ready: turn the bowl upside down; if the meringue holds its shape, it’s ready!). Add the vanilla sugar and cocoa powder and fold trough carefully.
Shape the meringue into the two rounds on the baking paper. (I like to make some peaks with the meringye and leave it uneven – it looks prettier that way.) Place the meringues in the oven and immediately turn temperature down to 110-120°C. Bake for 90 minutes and then turn off the oven. Leave the meringues in the oven to dry (at least for 30 minutes).
Whisk he cream until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar and coffee and mix well.
Chop the pecans a little.
When the meringues have cooled down spread the cream over the bottom meringue (the bigger one). Place the top meringue layer over the bottom. Sprinkle over the pecans.
Melt the chocolate in a sauce pan and pour over the pavlova. Finish with the cherries and enjoy!
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