A pillowy chocolate meringue base, topped with chocolate ganache, a layer of indulgent soft cream and mascarpone, and finally embellished with a syrupy dark cherry crown; this Black Forest Pavlova is unabashed decadence and utterly irresistible!
Call me out on this one if you will, but I stand by the declaration that you can't go wrong with offering up a good ol' pav' as a dessert.
And the joy is that if it all goes wrong, just smash it up, whip up some cream, add the cherry syrup and ta-da Eton Mess!
Yes, I've done that a few times👆🤣.
So, this Black Forest Pavlova was conjured up by me after a few failed attempts (we enjoyed the Eton Mess), and I am so excited to share it with you guys.
The layers provide a glorious variety of flavours and textures, black cherry and chocolate, surrounded by soft cream and mascarpone and a crisp outer meringue with a marshmallowy texture inside …is your mouth watering yet?!
Jump to:
Why make this Black Forest Pavlova?
A crisp chocolate pavlova shell ✔️
Marshmallow soft pavlova centre ✔️
Soft chocolate ganache ✔️
Rich and creamy double cream and mascarpone ✔️
Syrupy cherry-filled topping ✔️
Perfect, please-all dessert ✔️
Meringue base can be made 1-2 days in advance ✔️
Ingredients and Substitutions
Egg whites: for our meringue. Try to use older (but still in date!) egg whites if you can, or, if you only have fresh eggs, leave them to stand in your fridge, covered in an airtight container, for 24 hours to relax the proteins. Aged egg whites are thinner and therefore beat up better for meringue.
Cream of tarter: helps our egg whites to stabilise and thus whisk up more easily.
Caster (superfine) sugar: for our meringue, we use fine sugar as it dissolves more quickly than granulated.
Dark chocolate: try to use a good brand and one that is a minimum 70% cocoa solids; the better the chocolate the better your ganache. Dark chocolate is also grated into our meringue and sprinkled over the cherries.
Cocoa: sifted cocoa is added to our meringue along with some grated chocolate, just enough to give a gentle chocolate flavouring and colour.
Vanilla extract: for a bit of vanilla sweetness to our meringue.
Mascarpone and double (heavy) cream: both are beaten together with a little sugar for sweetness, together they provide a richer and creamier texture than cream alone.
Morello black cherry jam: creates a base syrup for our cherry topping.
Frozen fresh black cherries: added to the jammy syrup, you can use fresh cherries if you prefer.
Instructions
See end of post RECIPE CARD for precise quantities and instructions.
Chocolate Meringue
Place a piece of greaseproof (parchment) paper onto your baking tray and draw on a 20cm circle. Turn the paper over and affix it with some meringue when ready.
Beat your egg whites until frothy, then add your cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
Gradually beat in your sugar until your meringue forms stiff peaks.
Fold in your grated chocolate, cocoa powder and vanilla essence.
Blob onto the centre of your baking sheet and gently spread out to fill the circle.
Bake for 1½ hours, then turn off your oven and leave inside to cool as the oven cools.
Chocolate Ganache Filling
Heat your cream until simmering and then pour over your chopped dark chocolate.
After a few minutes stir until melted then set aside to cool before spreading over your pavlova.
Double (heavy) Cream and Mascapone Filling
Beat together your mascarpone and cream until soft peaks are formed.
Spread over your cooled chocolate ganache.
Dark Cherry Topping
Bring your morello jam and cherries to a gentle simmer for 2 minutes then leave to completely cool.
Spread over your cream layer and then grate over some dark chocolate.
Top Tips
- Be very careful not to get even the tiniest bit of yolk in with your egg whites as it will impair their ability to whip up.
- Don't be tempted to remove your pavlova from the greaseproof paper before it has fully cooled, otherwise if may stick.
Variations
Cherries in Kirsch work really well in this recipe.
Simply mix in 2 teaspoons of the kirsch that surrounds the cherries into your cooled ganache.
Then drain 100 grams of the cherries and add to your morello jam, instead of using fresh or frozen cherries.
Storage
You can make the meringue pavlova base 1-2 days in advance and store it in an airtight container until required.
This Black Forest Pavlova will keep refrigerated for 2 days in an airtight container.
It must be kept refrigerated at all times due to the layer of cream and mascarpone.
Did you try this recipe?
Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the Recipe Card below.
FAQ
Unfortunately yes you can. Keep stopping and testing to see if the meringue is forming stiff peaks and all of the sugar has dissolved, then stop beating immediately. To check if the sugar has dissolved simply rub the meringue between your fingers, you should not be able to feel any gritty grains when it is ready.
Meringue is initially placed into a medium oven, which is then immediately turned down low. The meringue needs to be baked on a low setting for a long time in order to dry out. Meringue has to be left to cool in the oven to prevent it cracking, this can occur when a sudden change of temperature occurs.
Linked Recipes
Other delicious desserts on Ella's Better Bakes which you might like to try are:
Salted Caramel Cheesecake (no bake)
Chocolate Nutella Meringue Nests
📖 Recipe
Black Forest Pavlova
Here's what you'll need...
- Dessert spoon
- Large metal spoon
- 2 small saucepans, 1 with a lid
Ingredients you'll need...
Chocolate Meringue
- 8 Egg whites from large eggs at room temperature (US = extra large)
- 460 g Caster sugar (US = superfine sugar = 2 Cups)
- ½ teaspoon Cream of tartar or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon Grated dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon Cocoa powder sifted
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla essence optional
Chocolate Ganache Filling
- 150 g Dark chocolate minimum 70% cocoa solids plus extra for grating (US = 1 cup of dark chocolate chips)
- 200 ml Double cream (US = heavy cream = 13 tbsp)
Cream and Mascarpone Filling
- 200 g Double cream (US = heavy cream = 13 tbsp)
- 150 g Mascarpone (US = 10 tbsp)
- 2 teaspoon Caster sugar
Black Cherry Filling
- 100 g Frozen black cherries (20 whole cherries)
- 100 g Black morello cherry jam (US = 5 tbsp)
Here's what we do...
Chocolate Meringue
- Heat your oven to 160°C Fan/180°C/355°F/Gas Mark 4.
- Cut a piece of greaseproof (parchment) paper large enough to line the base of your baking tray and draw a 20cm circle onto it. Turn the paper over so that drawn outline does not touch your meringue when added.
- Ensure your bowl and whisk attachment are spotlessly clean before you add your egg whites. If you want to be totally sure wipe both with white wine vinegar, this will remove any grease etc that you can't see. Any grease at all will affect how your egg whites whisk up.
- Beat your egg whites in your mixer using the whisk attachment, starting on a low setting, until they become frothy.
- Add your cream of tartar and then turn up the speed to medium-high and whisk until the egg whites form soft peaks.
- Turn your mixer down to a low-medium setting and add a dessertspoonful of sugar, allow the mixture to churn the sugar in for about 4 seconds before adding another spoonful and so on until all of the sugar has been used.
- Turn up your mixer back up to a medium-high setting and whisk for about until the meringue forms stiff peaks. This can take a couple of minutes. Soft peaks occur when your meringue peaks but then falls back on itself, stiff peaks are the pointy ones that keep their shape.
- Gently fold in your grated chocolate, cocoa powder and vanilla essence, just a few folds are enough, so as to create a marbled effect and to avoid losing air from your meringue.
- Place a spot of meringue onto each corner of your baking tray then affix your piece of greaseproof paper to it, so that it is held in place.
- Using your large metal spoon, blob the meringue in a heap onto the centre of the circle on your greaseproof paper, then spread out to fill the circle so that it just reaches your drawn outline.
- Place your meringue into your oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 130°C Fan/150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2.
- Leave to bake for 1½ hours, until firm and set but still pale in colour, do not be tempted to open your oven door to check on your pavlova, it's very heat sensitive and can't cope with changes in temperature and you may kill it off.
- After 1½ hours turn your oven off and leave the meringue to sit in your oven for another 1½-2 hours as it cools. This will ensure it continues to dry out inside.
- Once out of your oven, very gently peel away your greaseproof paper.
- Ensure fully cool before adding your fillings.
Chocolate Ganache Filling
- Chop your dark chocolate up into small chunks and set it aside in a heatproof dish.
- Heat your double cream over a medium heat in your small saucepan until it just starts to simmer.
- Pour your cream over your dark chocolate and leave it to settle for 2 minutes, then gently stir to melt and combine.
- Place your saucepan lid on and to leave cool until room temperature.
- When cool spread over the top of your meringue using your spatula.
Double (heavy) Cream and Mascapone Filling
- Beat together your mascarpone and cream until soft peaks are formed. The mixture can quickly be overbeaten so stop and check regularly for the soft peak stage.
- Spread over your cooled chocolate ganache. It is best to dollop the cream on in small blobs and then spread it out, so that it doesn't pick up any chocolate ganache.
Dark Cherry Topping
- Add your morello jam and cherries to your small saucepan and heat on a medium setting until simmering.
- Simmer for 2 minutes then leave to cool completely.
- Once totally cool, blob over your cream topping.
- Grate over shavings of dark chocolate.
- Ensure you keep your final pavlova refridgerated.
Supporting Notes
- Be very careful not to get even the tiniest bit of yolk in with your egg whites as it will impair their ability to whip up.
- Don't be tempted to remove your pavlova from the greaseproof paper before it has fully cooled, otherwise, it may stick. STORAGE You can make the meringue pavlova base 1-2 days in advance and store it in an airtight container until required. This Black Forest Pavlova will keep refrigerated for 2 days in an airtight container. It must be kept refrigerated at all times due to the layer of cream and mascarpone.
Comments
No Comments