The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.
I was pretty excited to see the word “pavlova” in the Daring Bakers recipe this month. It’s been years since I have made a pavlova and, in fact, I have never made one from scratch (the shame!) – I always used Pavlova Magic:
According to Wikipedia, Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna pavlova Colloquially referred to as “pav”, it is a cake similar to meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner. The dessert is believed to have been created to honour the dancer during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Where it was created and the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but research indicates New Zealand as the source.
The “soft, light inner” part is the sticking point. Much like macarons, a pav is tricky to get just right. You don’t want it to be a total marshmallow but you don’t want it to be a rock hard meringue. Upon further inspection of the recipe, I saw it was more like a hard meringue and since I don’t like them, I took it upon myself to make an Australian pavlova – crispy on the outside, marshmallowey on the inside.
I had heard from Jamie at Life’s a Feast that Nigella does a good chocolate pav so this recipe comes from Nigella.com. I chose to make individual portions as I had company coming and read up as to how long these should cook for. I had them in the oven for around 40 minutes and, as I had read to, left them there until completely cook. I reckon they could have done with just 30 minutes as, whilst they were a bit marshmallowey, they could have been even more so. Next time I will try less time at heat. I chose to serve it with fresh rasberrry and blueberry coulis atop a dollop of coeur à la crème. It was messy but delicious (the pav top is supposed to give way and crack when you eat it so it’s not necessarily going to be the prettiest dessert but it will be tasty!
The recipe below is for one large pavlova.
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Nigella’s chocolate pavlovas
Ingredients
For the chocolate meringue:
6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
50g dark chocolate, finely chopped
Serving Size : Serves 8–10.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 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 150°C/gas mark 2 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.
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Don’t you just LOVE how Nigella writes????
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Coeur à la crème
Blend 1 8 ounce package cream cheese (at room temperature) with 1/2 cup cottage cheese (I used ricotta since that’s what I had) until creamy. Mix in 1/2 cup caster sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence.
Whip 1 1/2 cups cream until stiff, then mix into cream cheese mix. Blend until smooth. You can either set these in heart shaped molds in damp cheesecloth and turn out onto a bed of raspberry coulis, or serve in ramekins. Or if you are my sister, you eat it straight from the big bowl!
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I will definitely be trying these again in an attempt to get them right and proper like a good Aussie pav!
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Ah, lovely and delicious and so summery light! I also changed my pavlova to a lighter one flavoring it with pistachios. I have 5 or 6 recipes open all over my kitchen table until I had concocted the perfect recipe. I loved them. But next time I am doing like you and making a more summery topping too. Your dessert is perfect!
Thanks Jamie – I found so much discrepancy with all the recipes it was kind of hard to know what to do…
Sterling effort on the Aussie Pav. Blueberries and raspberries would be such a refreshing change from the same old Kiwifruit & Passionfruit mess that goes on the local version 🙂 Great idea!
Funny – I wanted to to a traditional pav with kiwi and passionfruit but couldn’t find them 😉
WOW that is one marvellous looking pav – I haven’t seen pavlova magic for years I never have made pav that way LOL LOL. I just love the look of the topping and the fruit. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
Thanks Audax 🙂
I am still amazed at that pavlova magic stuff, what the? Weird!
Your homemade pavlova turned out great. I have been meaning to make that chocolate Nigella one forever. It’s in this month’s issue of TFN magazine. It’s been very humid here which can screw up egg whites so nicely done!
Yeah the humidity knocked both my pavs and my macs around this month too…
Your pavlova is just beautiful. That is the way that I have seen them before. Congrats on a great challenge!
They’re really nice in small servings.
Oh they are gorgeous Mardi. I know what you mean when you say ‘ kind of usual’ to change a recipe. I’m like that a lot too, but this time was really short on time. Must try Nigella’s recipe one day… does look good!
Yup – Nigella’s one is a good ‘un!
It has been ages since Ive made one too. Oh I change recipes all the time.
Penny you should join the Bakers!
Deliciously seductive. Love the ‘Anatomy of a Pavlova’. I think you should throw out the Pavlova Magic and make it from scratch from now on. You’ve got your own magic.
Thanks. I can’t actually get that here in Canada and haven’t used it since the early 1990s. Never fear, it will be from scratch from now on!
It looks like a lovely could I would eat up in no time. Great personal take on the challenge!
I love Pavlovas! In the earlier years of our marriage, we used to host a Christmas Day dinner party for MJ’s parents & friends who had nowhere to be for the holiday. Pavlova (with or without cocoa powder), loaded up with strawberries & kiwi slices was my FIL’s favorite, since he could eat as much as he wanted (fat-free & only 100 cals. a piece) and feel like he got a decadent holiday dessert. Love this version!
Yeah it’s a great dessert that feels much more decedent than it really is 🙂
Great choice! It’s a favorite around here.
I think your topping sounds perfect – cream and fruit, I bet it tasted awesome!
LL
Cream and fruit you can’t beat it, huh?
That pavlova in a plastic egg is fascinating.
Nice job on the from scratch version!
Thanks and yes, those Pavlova Magics are very odd indeed.
I am with you, I don’t enjoy pavlovas that are overly hard (more like a shell), and the australian ones are heavenly. I had my first one in Sydney and I fell in love! Yours looks delicious, and a perfect summer dessert. 🙂
Thanks – it wasn’t perfect but it definitely was not rock hard.
I wish I could take a bite right now…thanks for the interesting history about the recipe, she must have been quite the ballerina to have inspired such a tasty treat!
She was indeed quite something!
I can see why they named it such – so graceful and daintly and robust!
Absolutely!
I’m sitting here in a freezing Aussie winter and your Pavlova makes me long for the summer. And by the way, the Pavlova is definitely
Australian!!! I have never made a pavlova, not even with the EGG.
You could totally make the pav, mum – get on that!
ohh pretty! i think i accidentally and happily came out with a more australian version of the pavs–they were light and fluffy and a little crispy. i don’t care for american pavs either.
No I was so disappointed to see the hard meringue imposters in the recipe. Glad I went my own way!
Ah…now this is a meringue dessert I could love. I love making desserts with meringue and unlike some other whipped egg white treats we know only too well…have success with them! Looks beautiful too…great picture.
Thanks Barb 🙂 These are not super easy but they are much easier than the other desserts with whipped egg whites of which you speak…
I loved you recipe. I liked that it included balsamic vinegar. Thanks for sharing.
Yum! The raspberry and blueberry coulis must have taken this dessert over the edge. It looks delicious! Great job on this challenge
Thanks – it was a good combination of sweet and not so sweet.
Messy and delicious sounds perfect to me!
😉 love “messy and delicious” sometimes too!
a gorgeous summery pav! looks fantastic mardi!
Beautiful !!! Summer on a plate
Mardi it looks fantastic! And thank you again for explaining me the difference! Gorgeous result!
You’re welcome 🙂
what a welcome to summers… looks lovely…..
Oh, I love making Palovas. So light, airy and sexy! That was my fall back on dessert last summer. Bummed that I missed this challenge. I would try to make one in France but our apartment does not have an oven. Maybe I should buy a meringue and top with fruit – would that be cheating?
I think you did a great job and it looks wonderfully delicious!
Meringue topped with fruit would be acceptable. Then again, you could just head out to any pâtisserie and get something amazing too!
Heh! If there’s one lady who knooooows her meringues, it’s Jamie!!!
I haven’t posted my DB yet as I did it in a hurry over the weekend but like you suspected, I have ended up with hard biscuit meringues instead of gooey ones, I’m just too much of a chicken to take them out the oven early!
Your version looks totally luscious with all this fruit! Nigella is one of my heros although sometimes I find her cake recipes a bit inaccurate, it’s good to hear her pavlova is a reliable one and I will look at that next time.
Funny you say about using Australian pavlova – it was on Neighbours in about 1987 when I first heard of this dessert when Kylie Minogue i.e. Charlene was making one!
Oh sadly I actually remember that episode of Neighbours…. (grew up there!)
Adorable! Gorgeous. Mm. Pavlova was a long time ago..I should give it a try again soon!
Mardi, your pavlova looks so fresh and summmery 🙂
Thanks so much!
Congratulations on the Top 9. My Aussie friend made me pavlovas a few times and they were heavenly clouds.
Thanks – they are heavenly and cloud-like when done well!
that looks heavenly! I’ve never made pavlova out of fear I’ll over cook it..
Well undercooked pav can be cleverly disguised with cream and fruit you know!!!
Congrats on a beautiful pavlova and DB challenge this month. It looks amazing and I bet it was delicious too!
Thanks – I would have liked it to be a little darker brown – should have used a bit of food colouring – but was pretty happy with how it turned out!
I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that there was some evidence that the pav was first created in Perth. I guess we’ll never know the truth, but I refuse to give the credit to the Kiwis 😉
Oh wow Pavlova Magic, I had forgotten about that stuff. Never used it but it always intrigued me. Let me know if you get a hankering, I can post you an ‘egg’, hehe
Oh I would *love* an egg 😉
Great job with the Pav challenge! I didn’t know there was such a thing as “Pavlova Magic”. 🙂
Oh yes, it’s the stuff of my childhood and when I lived in Belgium as an exchange student, my mum would send me packages of it to make for my host families to make sure it would work out!
Excellent job! Looks amazing:)
Pavlova Magic—who knew?! I actually had an incredible pavlova in, of all places, China. It was so light and incredible…vowed to make it upon returning home. And here I am catching up on your blog and voila…awesome! Thanks, Mardi.
Wow – how interesting that you had pavlova in China! You will love making this – you should definitely try it out!
I’m sorry to see that you chose not to pipe brown goo on top of hard brown piping. Really a disappointment 😉
LOL. You wait until next Daring Bakers challenge!
where in vancouver can I purchase Pavlova Magic?