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Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova

Shanna
Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova. An impressive yet easy to make dessert for Valentine's Day.
Servings 4 -6

Ingredients
  

For the Pavlova:

  • 6 egg whites, room temperature (use 1 week old high quality eggs such as Nest Fresh Eggs
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 300 g super fine sugar (caster sugar), (1 ½ cups)
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon red wine or balsamic vinegar, (I used strawberry balsamic vinegar)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 30 g high quality cocoa powder, I used Valrhona (¼ cup)
  • 3 teaspoons corn starch I used organic

For the Strawberry curd:

  • 1 pounds fresh or frozen strawberries, if fresh remove stems and cut out hulls
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 150 g sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoon corn starch
  • 2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For filling and topping:

  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 2 tsbp powdered sugar 10x confectioners sugar
  • 1 ounce dark chocolate melted for drizzle
  • 1 cup sliced strawberries

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 350 Deg F. Take cake stand or serving plate and trace around it on two pieces of parchment. Then draw hearts inside the circles with at least an inch to inch and a half between the heart and the circle. Flip over and place on baking sheets
  • In a stand mixer combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip on medium until thick and foamy. Slowly add in the super fine sugar about two tablespoons at a time in a slow stream until completely added. Increase speed to high and whip for about 5-6 minutes or until tripled in volume, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides when needed. Feel the meringue between fingers to make sure the sugar is mostly dissolved. You don’t want it too grainy. Lower speed to medium and add in the vinegar and vanilla and whip until combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and sift in the cocoa powder and corn starch. Fold with a spatula until no more streaks of cocoa powered are seen. Dab a little meringue under the corners of the parchment to adhere it to the baking sheets. Spread the meringue evenly between the two pans into heart shapes, not spreading past the lines of the template drawn onto the parchment. Lift the sides of the hears a little higher than the centers with the spatula. Place in oven and immediately lower heat to 300 Deg F. Let bake 60 minutes then turn off heat and let cool in oven for 2 hours. Remove from oven to cool completely.
  • While the pavlovas are baking and drying make the curd. In a bowl whisk together the yolks, sugar, lemon juice, corn starch, set aside. In a small sauce pan heat the strawberries until very liquid and mushy. Transfer to a blender and blend for a few seconds until smooth. Slowly add in the hot strawberry puree into the yolk mixture whisking continuously until completely combined. Transfer mixture back to saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly with a spatula until thickened, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap, pressing down on the top of the curd and chill in refrigerator until completely cooled.

To assemble the pavlova:

  • Whip the cream until thickened, add in the powdered sugar and whip again until you get stiff peaks when the beater blades are removed from the cream. Heat the chocolate until thin enough to drizzle ( Chocolate pieces in a glass bowl for 30 sec increments in the microwave works fine)
  • Place one of the pavlova hearts on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread half of the cream over the top then spread some of the curd on top making sure the curd isn’t spread past the cream. Arrange strawberry slices on top. Repeat with next layer, remaining cream, curd and fresh strawberries. Drizzle the chocolate on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

The pavlova can be refrigerated a few hours before serving - but the meringue of the pavlova layers will soften significantly.
There will be leftover strawberry curd. This can be refrigerated up to a week or frozen for 3 months. It is most excellent on pancakes and waffles. Or ice cream.