Chocolate Black Forest Pavlovas

         Chocolate Black Forest Pavlova with chocolate sauce

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Love the "retro" of a black forest cake, ditto these chocolate mini pavlovas with the hidden chocolate centre and morello cherry top.  Hope you enjoy them too :) 

Morello cherries make a lovely addition to the batter of dark chocolate cupcakes, studding a sweet focaccia or as in today's posting topping a chocolate pavlova. If you are in fresh cherry season, fresh pitted cherries poached in a little sugar syrup can substitute for the Morello cherries if desired.

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 eggwhites

pinch cream of tartar

1/2 cup caster sugar (superfine)

1 tablespoon dark dutch process cocoa powder (sifted)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Sauce

125g (5.3oz) chopped good quality dark chocolate

125 ml (half cup) of thickened cream

2 tsp Kirsch (optional)

Topping

1 jar *morello cherries in syrup

2 tsp kirsch (optional)

125ml (1/2 cup) thickened cream 

Dark chocolate grated or curls to decorate

Method
. Preheat oven to 120C. Draw four 7cm (2.75 inch) circles on non stick baking paper, reverse paper so ink lines will be facing downwards when you use it to line your baking tray. 
. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until meringue is thick and glossy. Add cocoa & vanilla. Beat until just combined.
. Spoon meringue onto lined baking tray, using circles as a guide.  Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce oven to 120C. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until meringue is dry and crisp. Turn off oven and jar door open a little with the handle of a wooden spoon. Allow to cool completely in oven.

Place chocolate in a bowl. Place cream in a small pan over medium heat and bring to just below boiling point. Pour over chocolate, then stir until smooth. Stir is kirsch if using.  Let cool until it thickens slighty, break hole in the top center of each pavlova and put a spoonful of chocolate sauce.  

Whip cream with an electric beater until medium stiff peaks.

In a separate small bowl, add the Kirsch to 2 tablespoons of syrup from the jarred Morello cherries. Swirl of little of syrup through the cream, spoon onto the  tops of pavlovas (you may have some leftover), top with whole Morello cherries and decorate with chocolate curls and serve with any leftover cream, syrup and chocolate sauce.

Inside the pavlova, chocolate sauce with chocolatey marshmallow with crisp sugary shell.

Meringue base recipe adapted from SuperFood Ideas magazines Chocolate Pavlova Nests Nov 2005

Happy Baking :)

You might also be interested in POP POP yes bubble wrap chocolate!

Weird Science

If the names: Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, Wylie Dufresne roll off your tongue you already know what a syringe, and three white powders are going to produce. 

If not, welcome to world of culinary Molecular gastronomy. Since the 1990's some of worlds greatest chefs have passionately embraced the use of science, technology and cutting edge equipment to produce food in new surprising flavours and structure.

Hot coffee and iced coffee in the same cup yet both elements stay separate, inside out boiled egg, a sculpture of fruit foam tasting more like fruit than fruit itself but disappearing on your tongue, it's all possible with molecular gastronomy. 

Curious? Then why not start out with "fruit caviar or pearls", gel on the outside, liquid on the inside.

Liquid, usually fruit, but it can be alcohol to tomato juice go through a spherification process to produce small balls or "caviar" to be used desserts, savoury dishes and cocktails. 

For my first attempt I made red plum fruit caviar.

Fruit Caviar technique

500ml of chilled Red Plum juice (or 500ml of any liquid)

1.5g Sodium Alginate

1g Sodium Citrate

500ml chilled water

3g Calcium chloride

Combine the first three ingredients in a jug, whisk together. In a separate bowl stir the calcium chloride into the water until dissolved. 

Using a syringe or an eyedropper, drip drops of the fruit mixture into the calcium chloride bath. Allow to set for up to 5 minutes before rinsing in cold water. They are now ready to use. I paired the plum caviar with mini matcha & black sesame pavlovas but they could just as easily topped tarts or cupcakes. 

Starter spherification kit from The Red Spoon Company