A Summer Pudding!

Chocolate Berry Pavlova




How delicious does that look, right?
I stumbled upon one of Nigella's many masterpieces, and thus began my cravings for a summer pudding. Such a simple recipe, and I was pretty pleased that we had pretty much all the ingredients at home already! All the ingredients bar the cream and berries. And what is a pav without cream and fruit? Not a pav, that's what. On my way home from uni the next day, I stopped by the supermarket to pick up some cream and raspberries and to my utter excitement found the first of this seasons strawberries up there on the shelves! Words could not describe the joy. So much happiness!


Berries yay!

FOR THE CHOCOLATE MERINGUE BASE:

• 6 egg whites
• 300g caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved
• 1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
• 50g dark chocolate, finely chopped

FOR THE TOPPING:

• 300ml whipping cream
• as many raspberries and strawberries as you like!
• as much grated dark chocolate as you'd like!

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
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. 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.
3. 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.
   
   

Now my family aren't usually pavlova people, but they were quite impressed by this gooey, chocolatey creation. I expected there to be a good amount left for me but nope, it to my delight disappeared all too fast.

The soundtrack for this baking adventure was of course the obligatory record, Massive Attack's Collected. Pleasuring my ears and my soul since always.