PEAR, HAZELNUT AND CHOCOLATE PAVLOVA
PEAR, HAZELNUT AND CHOCOLATE PAVLOVA
PEAR, HAZELNUT AND CHOCOLATE PAVLOVA

Ingredients
  • 6 large free-range egg whites
  • 375g/13oz caster sugar
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 75g/3oz dark chocolate
  • broken into pieces
  • 300ml/10fl oz double cream
  • 300ml/10fl oz Greek-style yoghurt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 50g/2oz icing sugar
  • sieved
  • 4 poached pears or 2 x 400g tins pear halves in syrup
  • cut into large pieces
  • 50g/2oz toasted hazelnuts
  • halved
Directions
  • Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Line a baking tray with baking paper and draw a 15cm/6in circle in the centre and a 30cm/12in circle around the outside to make a ring.
  • Place the egg whites into a mixing bowl and whisk with an electric whisk on full speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar
  • a teaspoon at a time
  • still whisking on maximum speed until stiff and glossy. Mix the vinegar and cornflour together in a small bowl until smooth then stir into the egg until combined.
  • Spoon the mixture inbetween the lines of the ring. Make a trench in the meringue using the back of a spoon. Place in the oven then immediately reduce the temperature to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1 and bake for 1–1½ hours or until firm to the touch. Turn the oven off and leave in the oven until cool.
  • Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water
  • do not let the water touch the bowl. Stir until melted then keep warm.
  • Whip the cream to soft peaks using an electric whisk
  • stir in the yogurt
  • vanilla
  • icing sugar and half the pear pieces. Spoon the cream into the meringue trench
  • arrange the remaining pears over the top and scatter with hazelnuts. Fill a small piping bag with the melted chocolate and pipe a zigzag pattern over the top. Cut into wedges to serve.