Fluffed, Dreamy Hearts

Ok, so I'm not very good at thinking up names.

Anyway, here's the recipe for baby chocolate pavlovas. Recipe initially from Mrs Maddox, and initially intended for one huge pavlova. I've also halved the recipe because I was experimenting, plus, the original amount would be too massive! This recipe can make 4-6 pavlova hearts, depending on how big you make them.

Pictures to be uploaded soon, so sit tight!

Ingredients:

Pavlova
3 egg whites
150g sugar
1 and a half - 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (depending on how chocolatey you want it to be)
25g of finely chopped dark chocolate (although this is subject to individual tastes)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Topping
Thickened Cream
Strawberries
Grated dark chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a tray with baking paper.
   
2. Whisk the egg whites until they form satiny peaks.
   
3. Gradually add in the sugar while beating the egg whites. Beat until the mixture is glossy and forms stiff peaks.
   
4. Sift in the cocoa powder and add the balsamic vinegar and chocolate bits. Gently fold in.
   
5. Plop the mixture on the baking tray, smoothing out the top and sides of the hearts.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 150 degrees and pop the tray into the oven.
   
7. Bake until the sides are crisp, but the middle should be a bit squishy.
   
8. Switch off the oven and leave the oven door slighly open, so that your pavlova hearts can cool off.
9. Whip cream so that it forms firm peaks.
   
10. Slice the strawberries.
    
11. Assemble the pavlovas by spreading the top with cream and sprinkling with strawberries and grated chocolate.
    

Tips:

Make sure you don't put the meringues too close to each other as they expand when they're cooked

Baking time depends on how big the pavlovas are. I would say you would need at least twenty minutes for the small pavlovas. However, if you're making a huge one, the original recipe (which is double of the recipe here) suggests at least an hour and 15 minutes.

I'm not entirely sure what the balsamic vinegar is for - I might just experiment without it sometime.

This recipe would go well with most fruits, only try not to use fruits which are too juicy/watery. You don't want the fruit juices to seep into the cream and dilute it... or worse, seep into the pavlova and make it soggy. So you might want to steer clear of citrus fruits and watermelon.

Try to leave the decorating/topping to the last minute. You definitely don't want to do it too early as the pavlova might get soggy.

As usual, be careful when beating the cream. You don't want to overdo it as the cream will eventually separate into milk solids and water.

If you want to be really decadent, here's another way to assemble the pavlova. This method works best if you make one huge pavlova, and double the recipe above.

1. (optional) cut the pavlova in half so that you have two layers.
   
2. (optional) spread the whipped cream on the bottom half before replacing the top layer.
3. Cover the pavlova with the whipped cream.
4. Arrange strawberry slices all over the pavlova.
5. Sprinkle with grated chocolate.
   

I guess you could also try to add a layer of fruit in between the meringue layers. Or maybe, instead of a layer of cream, a layer of custard?