This dessert was born out of late-night, I’m needing something sugary but I don’t want to feel guilty about the calories, snacking. I’ve become quite taken lately with munching on a bowl of ripe, juicy British strawberries dipped in a modest bowl of caster sugar while watching Netflix (who else is watching the latest series of Orange is the New Black?!). This is often followed by a mug of steaming milky hot chocolate. The whole chocolate, strawberry, sugar thing really works well, I think.
A few weeks ago I made a delicious celebration rhubarb saffron yogurt cake and to decorate it I made some rhubarb saffron sugar candy which I really rather like. Unfortunately I made too much of it and there’s been half a kilner jar of it sitting in my cupboard ever since, opened only occasionally, to take out a piece to suck on to satisfy said sugar cravings (I should maybe sort those out!).
One evening, in a moment of inspiration during a sugar craving, I wondered if I could dip the strawberries into the rhubarb saffron sugar candy. You can, but the chunks of sugar are quite large and you end up scooping them with the strawberry rather than dipping. It’s rather messy and strawberry juice gets everywhere. Something would be needed to stick the sugar to the strawberry.
Chocolate!
The first time I made these they didn’t last the evening. The succulent, juicy strawberry, the rich dark chocolate and the crunchy texture of the rhubarb saffron sugar combine together wonderfully to make every bite of this an absolutely heavenly treat. It even contributes to your seven fruits and vegetables a day, right?
Yesterday was a glorious sunny day in Shetland, so I defrosted some chicken wings for a BBQ. I was going to try out the new Grill Mates: Brazilian BBQ marinade mix I’d been sent by Schwartz to taste (it was rather nice indeed, quick to make and quite tasty!). I ended up baking the chicken wings as the clouds came in and the wind picked up so the BBQ got cancelled.
While in the freezer I found one of many small tupperware containers containing egg whites. I’m an egg white hoarder. I’ll use the yolks for baking, pop the whites in the freezer and then never get around to using them. There’s a mountain of whites at the bottom of my deep freeze!
It was nigh time I used up some of those whites, so I made my very first pavlova. You’ll  notice the lack of close-up shots as it wasn’t a perfect pavlova; it cracked, a lot. I need to experiment with cooking times/temperatures in my ancient electric oven to get it right, but it still tasted fantastic.
Fluffy meringue with a crunchy outer, marshmallow inner topped with sweetened whipped cream and piled high with dark chocolate dipped British strawberries sprinkled with rhubarb saffron sugar. Yes, the family were most impressed and there wasn’t a crumb left by the time we were finished with it!
Click here for the rhubarb saffron sugar recipe.
Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova
Ingredients
For the meringue
- 3 large free-range egg whites at room temperature
- 175 grams caster sugar
For the strawberries
- 200 grams strawberries
- 100 grams dark chocolate 85% cocoa solids
- rhubarb saffron sugar (see rhubarb saffron yogurt cake for recipe)
For the Whipped Cream
- 284 ml whipping cream
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 140 C and place a silicone mat or baking paper onto a baking sheet.
- Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they start to hold their shape. Do not over-whisk.
- Add the caster sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until it is all fully incorporated and the meringue is stiff.
- Spoon one third of the meringue onto a baking sheet and spread out to form a 15 cm circle. Drop spoonfuls of the meringue around the outside of the circle to form a meringue 'bowl'.
- Bake for 60 minutes. Don't open the door to check it! After 60 minutes, switch off the heat, open the oven door and allow the meringue to cool slowly.
- Meanwhile, break chocolate into a heat proof bowl and suspend over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir gently until the chocolate has melted.
- Dip each strawberry in the chocolate and place on a silicone mat (or other non-stick surface). Sprinkle each chocolate coated strawberry with rhubarb saffron sugar. Pop in the fridge for the chocolate to harden.
- Whip the cream until it is light and fluffy adding the icing sugar towards the end.
- To assemble, gently transfer the meringue to a serving plate. Top with the whipped cream and pile high with strawberries. Serve immediately.
This week we found ourselves with four punnets of strawberries in our fridge. I picked up two on offer in town and my husband picked up two at the village shop on the way home from work, reduced to £1 as they were on their best before date. I used those strawberries for this dish, as well as egg whites which has been sitting in the freezer for ages, and leftover rhubarb saffron sugar, so I am sharing this recipe with the No Waste Food Challenge, hosted this month by Michelle over at Utterly Scrummy.
I’m also linking up with Ren Behan’s Simple and in Season linky, Tasty Tuesdays by Honest Mum, Lucy from Supergoldenbakes and her Cook, Blog, Share linky, Javelin Warrior’s Made with Luv Monday’s linky and Alphabakes, co-hosted by Ros at The More Than Occasional Baker and Caroline at Caroline Makes. This month is the letter D and dark chocolate is a key ingredient in this recipe!
Home Made Fab Ice Lollies
Looks so good and very professional! Like the idea of the rhubarb saffron sugar.
Hmm this looks lovely!
oh lovely and so romantic.
Looks Delish!
I love pavlova and this looks great, never made one though I cheat and buy from a supermarket, think its time I took the plunge thanks for the recipe x
Just made a pavlova for a birthday tomorrow but used a milk chocolate/hazelnut meringue & white chocolate and raspberriy topping (actually made 2 just in case but not telling anyone). I’d never thought of freezing eggwhites – great idea!
Strawberries and Pavlova – it doesn’t get much better than this:-) Gorgeous pics!
I’m a great fan of Pavlova and this is such a delicious way to serve it. Oh my word, the photos are fab and show off the mouth watering dessert perfectly. Thanks so much for letting me host No Waste Food Challenge and linking up another recipe. 🙂
I love pavlova. I love strawberries. I love chocolate. I love saffron. What can I say…..
😀
This looks amazing, will have to try this during Wimbledon fortnight
It’s so easy to make and super tasty 🙂 Let me know how you get on!
Im gonna give this a go .It looks gorgeous.
Let me know how you get on! Tweet me a photo! 🙂
These strawberries look crazy good. Love how the white large sugar bites makes the whole thing just perfect.
Thank you Julie – I think they look rather fetching too 🙂
Looks divine:)
Thank you!
Wow what an amazing photo and lovely recipe too!
Aw thank you! 😀 I really appreciate your kind feedback x
OMG Heavenly!
Thank you! 😀
Such a fabulous recipe – it had to be featured in #CookBlogShare. I really want to make the rhubarb saffron sugar it has somehow entered my brain and leaving very little room for anything else!
Thank you! I think the next time I make the sugar I might make it with 100% rhubarb juice instead of water, just to see how it works. The colour would definitely be better and flavour improved too, I reckon. Ponders…
The rhubarb saffron sugar sounds really interesting – and is this really your first ever pavlova? It looks great! Thanks for entering Alphabakes!
First one ever – yep! The first of many, I still have a freezer full of egg whites! 🙂
The sugar flavours sounds intriguing. This is a summer showstopper.
Aw thank you! 🙂
Pavlova is the sweet more difficult to make but the most delicious!
Bye
I’m looking forward to taste testing all my attempts to perfect it in my dodgy oven! 🙂
Divine!!!! Chocolate-dipped strawberries AND pavlova meringue & cream AND rhubarb saffron sugar????? How tempting is that?! Definitely one to make when I have a night to myself and no-one else to get a look in!
I admit the selfish side of me didn’t want to share the one I made, but my family were so eager! 🙂
One of my favourite puddings, looks amazing yum! #TastyTuesdays
Thank you 🙂
I adore pavlova and love this idea. Delicious!
Thanks Helen 🙂
I grew up having pavlova regularly – and my mum still makes them a lot – I think your pav looks great and I would love it with the strawberries on it – the best of my mum’s most regular pavs (one has strawberries and one has mint chocolate) – sometimes I even see recipes for pavs and wish I made them
I’d never even heard of pavlova until I moved to the UK (I hadn’t heard of many dishes until I started cooking, to be honest!) and I’ve recently fallen in love with it. Mint chocolate sounds fantastic! Instead of dipping one could just pour melted mint chocolate over the pile of strawberries…. ooh yum!
Your Pavlova looks absolutely gorgeous and it is one of my favourite food combinations – meringue, chocolate and strawberries. I am sitting here laughing at the screen because my next scheduled post is almost identical to yours – even down to clearing out my frozen egg whites 🙂
Great minds think alike! I’ve been working on a quick BBQ sauce recipe over the last week, but the one you’ve posted sounds much nicer! Think I might have to tweak mine some more before it goes online 🙂
Delicious! Perfect for the summer! x
Thank you 🙂
Stunning, delicate beauties-adore your styling and photography! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Thank you! I really appreciate your positive feedback. I often feel my photographs are too dark – the light up in Shetland isn’t always the greatest and I need to learn how to fiddle with the ISO settings on my camera! So, thank you!
What a truly delicious dessert, I could think of no better put for this time of the year. Bet it was a huge hit!
Thank you Laura 🙂 We all thought it was rather good too! It’s nice when an idea in your head comes alive and works like this. I was really quite pleased with it!
I love strawberries and eat boxes of them especially when they are in season. I love how you’ve dipped them in dark chocolate (my favourite kind) and that rhubarb saffron sugar sounds amazing!! I’ve been making a lot of Eton Mess recently as it’s so easy to make but this has got to be my next project. Thanks for entering AlphaBakes.
So glad you like the look of it! I’ve recently become a fan of Eton mess too. Yum!
I think epic is the best word to describe this beauty, Elizabeth 🙂 The rhubarb sugar crystals are an inspired touch and I don’t think anyone will notice (or care) about a cracked meringue when it’s bearing such luscious dipped strawberries!
Aw thank you Mark! 😀
Oh wow, I could demolish this all on my own! I like messy meringues, they always seem a little more charming, and I’m intrigued by the rhubarb saffron sugar.
I shan’t feel guilty about the non-perfect meringue any longer now, thank you 🙂 The rhubarb saffron sugar was developed specifically for a cake decoration but I made too much. Still have a little left to play with so there might be another dish with it on it soon!
I love pavlova and this sounds absolutely fabulous! As does the rhubarb saffron sugar… #TastyTuesdays
Thanks Sara 🙂
Oooh dead cert way to improve on a classic strawberry pavlova… “just add chocolate” !
Yup! Chocolate makes everything better… and bacon. I wonder…? 😉
My my this looks rather good!!! So many textures and flavours to get excited about… i’m going to make this to watch Wimbledon with…. I might share it with my family… I might not…
Haha! Fantastic (and I’m liking the not sharing thing – I’m sure I could eat the whole lot on my own – so light and yummy!) 🙂
OMG – that looks blooming delicious! I had all sorts of ideas for using your rhubarb sugar candy but hadn’t thought of sticking it to things with chocolate – GENIUS! Check out my mum’s pavlova recipe on my blog – best I’ve ever tasted & cracking problems solved! 🙂
Heehee, so glad you like it and I’m off to check out your mother’s tips now! Now that I’ve started making pavlovas I have about 8 more tubs of whites in the freezer to use up making more! So inexpensive and tasty!
This has got to be one of the most sumptuous desserts ever. Love chocolate dipped strawberries and meringue and cream and the sugar sounds quite fabulous.
Thanks Choclette – I was rather pleased with it, especially after two of the dishes I made for dinner were flops (imho – family liked them though!).
These do look rather good. I haven’t had strawberries in quite some time. They are a real treat around here!
We used to harvest wild strawberries that grew on the sides of the road where I grew up in Canada. They were teeny tiny little things but they had more flavour packed into one of them than these supermarket ones do. They made the best jam too 🙂
Making me feel very peckish! Love the combination…and the soft focus pictures…always think that the best meringues are a little bit messy anyway!
Phew! Glad I did it right then 🙂 Thanks for popping by!