When LSA was back in town recently, we got her to pop over for some homemade dinner. I made this as a dessert because:
1. It’s simple to whip up the meringue and just let it bake for 2 hours while I continue with the rest of the cooking.
2. Chocolate pavlovas are possibly one of my favourite things in the world.
I realise I should have made something that LSA personally likes, but I guess I’m just pushy like that….
# – Individual mango chocolate pavlova.
Anyway, while I was busy setting out the table and all, LSA asked me, “Kim, can I check with you what is your policy about centipedes?”
“Huh?”
“If you’re looking at one, would you leave it alive or would you kill it?”
“Huh?”
And less than a second after I responded, a centipede crawled really fast into Charlie’s pen right before my eyes. WHAT THE EFFFFF???
Long story short, LSA helped me killed it by courageously squashing it to death with some paper towels while I held on to a chair ready to jump on it lest it crawled towards my direction.
LSA, I <3 you, hahahahahhaha.
For the pavlova:
- 4 eggwhites
- 200 grams of caster sugar
- 4 teaspoons of cornflour
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar
- 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
For the filling:
- 300 ml of whipping cream, whipped up
- 2 mangoes, peeled and cut into cubes
# – First, in a clean and greaseless bowl, beat the egg whites.
# – When the egg whites have doubled in size, gradually pour in the caster sugar and continue beating.
# – When the egg whites have turned glossy, add in the lemon juice. Lower the beating speed.
# – While slowly beating, add the cornflour.
# – And lastly, the cocoa powder. When the mixture has turned an even chocolate colour, stop the beaters.
# – Stick the mixture in a piping bag and pipe out 6 bird’s nest designs on a non-stick baking sheet. If you don’t have a piping bag, just spoon the mixture over and aim for a pretty rustic look ;)
# – Stick it in a preheated oven at 130 degrees celcius and bake for 2 whole hours. This is how they looked like after baking. My tray was too small so I couldn’t pipe out 6 nests properly, so I just piped out small chocolate meringues all around with the leftover :D
# – Put a few dollops of cream over the next and sprinkle with fresh mango cubes. Individual mango chocolate pavlova, DONE!
# – Chocolatey, crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. It went down absolutely well with cream and juicy mangoes.
A dessert like this cost would probably cost like a minimum of RM12 outside for ONE serving. I could make 6 servings for under RM10! It is quite ridiculous isn’t it? To think that the effort involved also wasn’t that much really.
If you’re worried about making meringues, just check out the tips I’ve posted here. You can of course substitute mangoes with other fruits of your choice.
Happy baking!
