I have adapted this recipe from Nigella Lawson’s chocolate pavlova. I’m not a huge pav fan as I don’t like cream, so I make this using greek yoghurt. I also think that This cake is a bit of an anomoly – part pavlova (in that the method is that which you would use to make a pavlova), but in taste and texture it’s definitely more like a brownie or macaron, crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. Whatever you want to call it though, it’s easy to make and satisfies a chocolate craving!
You will need (to serve 4-6):
3 egg whites
150g brown granulated sugar/golden castor sugar
1.5 tablespoons of cocoa powder
30 g chopped dark chocolate (70%-80% cocoa solids)
quarter teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
Mixed summer berries/fruit of your choosing and extra chocolate to grate over the top
Equipment
large bowl
electric whisk
spatula
baking tray
baking parchment
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to around 180 degrees celsius and weigh out your ingredients
- Line a baking tray with a large sheet of baking parchment (no need to grease)
- Separate the eggs and discard the yolks (or keep for another recipe) and whisk up the egg whites until they form white peaks. Remember, this may take a while (e.g 10-20 minutes) so be patient!
- Start to whisk in the sugar, a spoonful at a time until the mixture becomes stiffer in texture and looks more satiny/shiny (again this may take some time)
- Sieve over the cocoa and continue to whisk together
- Add the chopped chocolate and vinegar and give the whole mixture a final whisk. Ultimately the texture should be pretty stiff and shiny, as it would be for meringue
- Spoon the mixture into a mound in the middle of the baking parchment and level off the top slightly with a spatula (using a swirling motion) and smooth the edges so that the base is circular
- Pop in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to around 150 degrees celsius
- Bake for around 40-50 minutes. The cake is done when it is crispy on the outside and still gooey on the inside – though a knife will come out clean. Note that the cake will expand whilst baking and sink down when you bring it out of the oven, which is fine
- When the cake is ready, take it out of the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes so that it is solid enough to invert onto a plate.
- When you have inverted the cake onto a serving plate, peel off the baking parchment, spoon over the berries and dust with grated chocolate.
- This can be served either as it is, or with greek yoghurt /creme fraiche/cream/ice cream
