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Black Forest Pavlova Recipe

Ingredients

For the Classic Meringue (as adapted from Jamie Oliver):

  • Egg Whites from 6 large eggs
  • 300 g of Caster Sugar
  • 1 pinch of Sea Salt

For the Cream:

  • 200 ml of Pure Cream

For the Cherry Mixture:

  • 60 g of Dried Sour Cherries
  • 300 g of Pitted Morello Cherries (available in jars & 3-4 Tablespoons of Syrup from jar)
  • 3 Tablespoons of Kirsch/Cherry Liqueur
  • 50 g of Caster Sugar

For the Chocolate Ganache:

  • 125 ml of Thickened Cream
  • 300 g of Dark Chocolate (chopped)

Garnish:

  • Edible Gold Color Mist (Food Color Spray)
  • Fresh Cherries (for topping)

Instructions

For the Classic Meringue:

  • Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C if fan forced).
  • Place the egg whites into a clean and dry mixing bowl and whisk them at a medium speed until they start to form nice firm peaks.
  • As the egg whites are still being whisked, gradually add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Turn the mixer up to the highest setting and whisk for 7-8 minutes more until the meringue forms a white, glossy and smooth texture. If it feels grainy, whisk for a little bit longer, being careful to not let the meringue collapse.
  • Line two baking trays with baking paper. Divide the meringue mixture evenly between them and shape each blob into a circle about 20cm in diameter*.
  • If you have left over meringue, pipe them into small desired shapes to decorate the pavlova.
  • Put both trays into the oven and bake for approximately an hour, until the meringues look slightly golden and are "marshmallow-y" in the middle. Remove and set aside to cool completely.
  • Once cooled, lightly spray some gold shimmer over the meringue for that extra touch of class.

For the Cherry Mixture:

  • In a small saucepan, gently heat & stir the Morello cherries, syrup, Kirsch and caster sugar for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar completely dissolves.
  • Using a wooden spatula, gently mash & stir the Morello cherries into a jam like consistency.
  • Add in dried sour cherries and cook for another 3-5 minutes until dried cherries starts to swell. Add more syrup if mixture is too dry. Set aside to cool completely.

For the Chocolate Ganache:

  • Gently heat cream in a small saucepan and turn heat off once it reaches just below boiling point. Place chopped dark chocolate in a bowl and pour over hot cream. Stir mixture until chocolate melts and you get a smooth consistency. Side aside to cool completely.

For the Cream:

  • Once the meringue layers, cherry mixture and chocolate ganache have sufficiently cooled, start with the whipping of the cream.
  • Place the cream into a clean mixing bowl and following the instructions of your mixer, whip at medium speed until the cream starts to thicken out. Be careful to not over-whip the cream as it can go from smooth and creamy to fluffy and whipped in a matter of minutes (it happened to me!)

To Build The Pavlova:

  • Place the first meringue on a cake stand. Top it with a layer of cream, followed by a layer of chocolate ganache and finally the cherry mixture.
  • Place the second meringue over the first layer. Repeat the cream, chocolate ganache and cherry mixture layers.
  • Top pavlova with some fresh cherries and individual meringues to finish off.

Notes

*It's really up to you how you want your pavlova to look and the number of layers you want. You could do smaller blobs and divide the mixture evenly to 3-4 blobs to have a pavlova tower.