Method

Chocolate Swirl Meringue

Preheat the oven to 150 ºC. Use a 20 cm cake tin to trace a circle onto a piece of baking paper and place onto a baking tray.

Mix the cornflour and the vinegar in a small bowl to dissolve and then set aside.

Add the egg whites to a clean mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk on the highest setting until the egg whites look like pillowy clouds. Add the castor sugar, one tablespoon at a time, while continuing to whisk. Continue mixing until a thick, stable meringue mixture forms. Use a spatula to fold in the cornflour mixture until combined.

TIP: Place four small blobs of meringue underneath each corner of the baking paper and use this to stick the baking paper down onto the baking tray.

Carefully stream half of the melted chocolate into the meringue mixture and fold very lightly to create a swirl pattern. NB: You don’t want to mix the chocolate all the way in or you will lose the marbled pattern effect.

Next, tip the mixture out into the centre of the circle on the baking paper and using a spatula, lightly work it out to the border of the circle. Create a hollow in the centre of the meringue and work the sides up a bit creatively to give them some height. TIP: Dip a clean finger into the remaining chocolate and use to create extra swirls in the sides of the meringue if you’ve lost some of the pattern while mixing.

Pop the tray into the oven and turn the heat down to 130 ºC. Bake for 55 minutes and then turn the heat off but leave the meringue in the oven until it has cooled completely.

Toppings

Drain the juice from the tinned cherries and place into a small saucepan over a medium-high heat. Bring to the boil and simmer until reduced to a semi-thick syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside.

If you want to add a little festive sparkle to your pavlova, you can opt to use a little edible gold glitter. Pop a little glitter into a small bowl and dip fresh cherries into the gold dust and then set aside. Roll chocolate balls in the gold glitter as well.

To Assemble

(Assemble just before serving)

Transfer the cooled meringue to a serving plate or platter.

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form and then spoon into the centre of the cooled meringue. Use a spatula or spoon to spread the cream evenly over the meringue base.

Now the fun stuff, top the cream with a combination of fresh and tinned cherries, chocolate malted balls and chopped dark chocolate. Drizzle with cherry sauce. You can sprinkle a little extra gold glitter over at the end. Serve immediately.