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Saturday, November 10, 2007

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

In a case of blogger imitates blogger, I decided to make a Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova after I saw Cin's beautiful photo at A Few Of My Favourite Things!. The recipe is actually from Nigella "Domestic Goddess" Lawson. I got the recipe from her Nigella's website. Here's a gratuitous photo of Nigella, just because I can. :-)


Today as I was about to post the recipe, I was checking my sitemeter when I saw that someone can clicked through to my site from Swee's A Self Proclaimed Foodaholic blog. And guess what recipe that had jumped from, yep, none other than Nigella's chocolate pavlova that Swee had made a while back.

Well here was my attempt at the Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova. It was really really easy to make. I, like Swee, had added 50% to the recipe so made it with nine egg whites. I still need to find a recipe to use all the yolks in the fridge. I made two pavlova's a smaller one that was about 20cm in diamter and a huge one that was like 35cm in diameter.

The pavlova is sweet and chocolatey, with the outer crust being really light and airy and the centre being more chewy. Eaten alone, the pavlova is quite sweet. But when you eat it as a whole, with the double thick cream and the sour raspberries, the flavours combine to give a burst in your mouth. There is the richness of the smooth cream with the sharp tang of the raspberries combined beautifully with the chocolate. And then lastly, you get the chewiness of the base with the final sensation being the crunch of the outer crust. A very good summer dessert I think. It looks very stunning as well, especially the huge one I made.



Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

for the chocolate meringue base:
6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved
1 teaspoon balsamic
50g dark chocolate, finely chopped


for the topping:
500ml double cream
500g raspberries
2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

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. Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar, and the chopped chocolate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in. Mound on to a baking sheet in a fat circle approximately 23cm in diameter, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 150C 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. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue disc cool completely.

When you're ready to serve, invert on to a big, flat-bottomed plate. Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter over the raspberries. 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.

Serves 8-10.

8 comments:

  1. This is one of my all-time favourite Nigella recipes to make, and it's certainly a crowd pleaser!

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  2. Hello, I was so afraid of getting left behind that I ran out before saying good bye, sorry... only one muffin out of the two and a half is left, Alana LOVED them, thank you!! Vida x

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  3. Rachel, this dessert is nice and definitely a showstopper. Makes a huge impact.

    Vida, I was wondering where you ran to. Was going to say bye to you. I'm glad you liked the muffin, it was my pleasure. We'll catch up another time soon, I'm sure of it.

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  4. Everything Nigella makes is wonderful,she truly enjoys food and eating without being a snob about it.

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  5. I thought you guys must have gone ahead of my and so I raced out to catch you only to not find you and then it was awkward to go back inside... you know my fear of cleaning up!!! I am sure we will meet again... P.S. After eating the last muffin Alana would like her money back, she said she was robbed... the third one was blueberry and she was expecting starwberry... it was very funny, she ate it all up though, she really loved them and I will try making them myself, thanks again. Vida x

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  6. Vida, we were all still packing up our stuff. I know about your fear of cleaning up, so I forgive you.

    I actually like the blueberry muffins better. I think blueberry is the perfect fruit to go into muffins.

    They're really easy to make so definitely give them a go. The recipe is here. The hardest part is probably trying to spread the topping evenly over the muffins so that each one will taste fantastic.

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  7. Julie, Nigella is probably the least snobby of the British chefs, although Jamie is down to Earth too it seems. Nigella definitely enjoys eating, as far as I can tell from the shows. She is not shy about licking her fingers and lips ever so seductively.

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  8. Thanh, I already sniffed out the recipe this morning when Alana ate the last one and said "you have got to get that recipe, mum" and I did... thank you!! Vida x

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