- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites
- 1 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornflour
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa*
- 50g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 300ml cream
- fresh or freeze dried raspberries
Method
Preheat the oven to 140 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw a 22cm circle outline with a pencil, a cake tin is a good guide for this. Make sure the pencil circle is facing the tray.
Place the egg whites into the bowl of a cake mixer (ensuring bowl and whisk are perfectly clean). Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form when the beater is lifted from the mixture. Continue to mix, gradually adding the sugar a tablespoon or so at a time and waiting between each addition, add cornflour with the last of the sugar. Continue to mix until you can’t feel any sugar when a small amount of mixture is rubbed between your index finger and thumb. Add the vinegar at the end of mixing (total mixing time should take no more than 12 minutes, excess beating can cause faults).
Lift the whisk from the bowl and sift over the cocoa and chocolate. Using a metal spoon gently fold the cocoa through the meringue until you have a smooth light chocolate colour.
Pile the meringue onto the baking paper keeping about 1cm within the outline (chocolate pavlova tends to spread a little during cooking).
Place the tray in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 120 C. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes before turning off the oven and leaving the pavlova to sit until the oven cools. After the first 20 minutes you can wedge the door open slightly using a wooden spoon.
Turn the cooled pavlova out onto a plate and top with whipped cream and raspberries.
Invert pavlova onto a serving plate, peel off baking paper and top with whipped cream and fruit.
* In my recipe testing the Dutch processed cocoa pavlovas collapsed. There are recipes on the web that use this but I didn’t find it successful.
I am happy to hear otherwise from you.
Helen
You have 2 different instructions for cooking 1 1/4 hrs and 1 1/2 hrs – which is correct?
I have successfully used your no fail pavlova recipe, would it be possible to use the same method for this chocolate pavlova?
Hi Linda, yes but be very careful in folding in your cocoa and chocolate and I do think that it is better to heat the oven a little hotter first and then drop it down. I think that helps to set the outer.
Hi Linda, yes for sure, but be very careful in folding in your cocoa and chocolate and I do think that it is better to heat the oven a little hotter first and then drop it down. I think that helps to set the outer.
Hi Helen, re the dutch cocoa: could be because it is higher fat for more flavour and the fat could make the egg white collapse, cheaper cocoas are lower in fat typically. And/or because it is more alkaline from the Dutching process, so maybe need to use more vinegar? And/or use more cornflour to “set” the baked foam? Why are there both 22cm and 24cm instructions for the meringue/pavlova?
Anny I do think it is something to do with acid/alkaline reaction and I am doing my best to find out, One of my pavlovas with Dutch cocoa went to pure liquid. Yes it could be the fat content.
Duh thank you for pointing out that I had 2 sets of instructions for drawing the outline – I reduced it to 22cm as the pavlova does spread a bit – more than an original one.
I have removed the 24cm now.
Helen
any particular reason why balsamic vinegar was used instead of ordinary vinegar? and does it have to be white balsamic or can ordinary balsamic be used?
Hi Madeline, I use balsamic vinegar because I like the flavour and I use ordinary balsamic. The hint of colour I think is helpful rather than detrimental.