by Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas celebration with your friends, family and loved ones.
Christmas in our home today started with a leisurely breakfast … until the children realised that they could open their Christmas stockings once they had finished their meal. I had never seen them chomp down their toast and scull their milk so quickly!
Santa had been very generous with his delivery of little music boxes (playing French nursery rhymes), as well as a few wind-up toys which have kept the children quite entertained for most of the day, more so than some of the big-ticket items from under the tree which, ultimately, hardly elicited any reaction! (note to self for next year …)
Christmas lunch this year was a small family affair, which meant less stress in the kitchen and more time watching everyone open and enjoy their presents (including a shiny new handbag for moi!!).
This year, I made a Duck Confit Shepherd’s Pie, which was a dish we made at Mimi Thorisson’s Manger Workshop last month.
Duck confit is one of my all-time favourite dishes (you can find my recipe here), and I think turning it into a Shepherd’s Pie sort of takes it up a notch. I hope to share the recipe here very soon.
Alongside the main dish, we had our Christmas favourite, Brussels sprouts with bacon and chestnuts. For this dish, I like to use really small Brussels sprouts, and I am thankful to one of my regular vendors at the farmers’ markets for providing extra teeny tiny Brussels sprouts this year; most were the size of small grapes!
Our son managed to surprise us by requesting additional serves of Brussels sprouts, something which I plan to exploit for as long as they are in season 😉
And for the pièce de résistance, I made our favourite Chocolate Pavlova with Chestnut Purée for dessert.
It’s a delicious twist on a traditional Mont Blanc dessert, which is comprised of sweetened chestnut purée topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with chocolate and crushed meringue.
This year, I scaled down the chocolate pavlova to serve 2-4 people, and I took the easy route by using a can of sweetened chestnut purée instead of making my own (which I normally do, like in my recipe for Mont Blanc Chocolate Pavlova).
Using tinned sweetened chestnut purée made this dessert super easy and stress-free for me. I daresay that I will be adopting this shortcut from hereon!
But as tinned sweetened chestnut purée is not always readily available, it’s good to know how to make your own using the recipe which I have provided with my Mont Blanc Chocolate Pavlova recipe. This has a similar and easy chocolate pavlova recipe to the one below, but it makes a larger chocolate pavlova, and is combined with a chestnut purée recipe.
My son has been asking for this chocolate pavlova each night since our Christmas lunch, and I think I might have to indulge him. With all of the egg yolks which we used to make multiple batches of Gingerbread Sablé in the past few weeks, I have so many egg whites stashed away in the freezer, just waiting to be transformed into something irresistible like a pavlova.
Recipes Using Egg Whites
Egg whites can be frozen and later defrosted to use in many baking recipes. I like to freeze egg whites in pairs in small zip-lock freezer bags for easy and quick thawing.
If you need to find ways of using up lots of leftover egg whites, may I suggest the following:
Pavlova with Cream & Passionfruit
Chocolate Pavlova with Chestnut Purée
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 125 g (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) caster sugar, (superfine sugar)
- 1 teaspoon cornflour, (US: cornstarch)
- ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted
- 40 g (1 ½ oz) dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, roughly chopped
- 250 ml (1 cup) double cream, (heavy whipping cream)
- 250 g (8 ¾ oz) canned sweetened chestnut purée, such as Clément Faugier
- dark chocolate, for decorating
Instructions
To Make the Chocolate Pavlova
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (without fan).
- Using a standmixer or electric beaters, whisk the egg whites in a large, clean bowl until they have tripled in volume and soft peaks form.
- Turn the speed down to low and slowly add the caster sugar, one spoon at a time until the sugar is well incorporated. As you add the sugar, the mixture will start to become thick and glossy, and stiff peaks will form when you lift the beaters.
- Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Rub a bit of the mixture between your fingertips to test if the sugar has been fully dissolved; if you don’t feel any grains of sugar, move onto the next step.
- Add the cornflour, white wine vinegar, vanilla extract and cocoa powder. I do this on low speed with the stand mixer for only 2 to 3 rotations (about 1 second).
- Fold through the chopped chocolate.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper and spoon the pavlova mixture onto the tray into a round shape. I like to dollop the mixture on top of each other into a high pile, and to then shape the pavlova from there – using this method ensures that your pavlova will have some height.
- Use a palette knife to shape the sides of the pavlova and to slightly flatten the top. The pavlova will expand and rise once cooked, so shape it to be on the slightly smaller side.
- Place the pavlova in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 150°C/300°F (without fan).
- Bake for 1 hour. Do not open the oven door during this time.
- After 1 hour, turn off the oven and leave the oven door closed so the pavlova can cool down completely. You should leave the pavlova in the oven for at least 2-3 hours, but overnight (12-18 hours) is best.
To Decorate the Chocolate Pavlova
- Assemble the pavlova just before serving.
- Whisk the cream until it is thick and soft.
- Spread the sweetened chestnut cream over the pavlova.
- Top with the whipped cream.
- Grate the chocolate over the cream.
Kitchen Notes
- MAKE-AHEAD TIPS
I like to make the pavlova first thing in the morning so that it can slowly cool and dry in the oven until I need to serve it later in the evening. You could even make the pavlova 1-2 days in advance and keep it in an air-tight container. - OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
This is stunning! I’ve never made a pavlova so tall!! And I had no idea about freezing egg whites. Genius!
I have a freezer overflowing with frozen eggwhites! I see many pavlovas in our near future 😉
Thanh I love chestnuts and this looks amazing. Pavlova is one of my favourite desserts, I’ve never made my own chestnut puree, it must be a lot of work.
Making your own chestnut purée is not so difficult, and it gets easier each time. I once had an over-supply of vacuum-sealed chestnuts and made several batches of sweetened purée for desserts – it was perfect 🙂 It tastes much better than the store-bought variety, not least because you can control the sweetness, and it’s also handy to know if you can’t buy sweetened chestnut purée where you are. But then, sometimes sourcing chestnuts as they are is hard enough, too! 🙂
This Pavlova look out of this world good. Love the addition of chestnuts!
Thank you!
I was seriously just looking at some chestnut puree in the store and wondering what in the world to use it on– this sounds amazing!
As a child, I used to eat sweetened chestnut purée as it is (they are also sold in tubes). Another easy way of serving it is simply with some whipped cream with maybe some grated chocolate on top 🙂
I’ve made your Mont Blanc Pavlova a few times and it is excellent! I was curious to try this shortcut version and it was just as wonderful (and a bit easier!!).
Looks beautiful and tasty! Yummy! This made me drool.
This is the recipe I have been looking for! Reminds us of desserts we enjoy every year skiing in France. There will be eight of of for Christmas dinner – is it easy just to double it? Thank you!
Hi Anne,
I have included some notes under the recipe for a slightly larger pavlova, which should feed 4-6 to people, maybe a bit more. I would not recommend doubling the recipe and making a bigger pavlova because the cooking and cooling time will be longer. Instead, I would suggest that you make two pavlovas if you wish to serve 8 with leftovers 🙂
You mention adding vanilla extract in Step 6 but do not list it in the ingredients.
Hi Nicolle,
Oops, so sorry about this! Thank you for pointing this out! I have just updated the recipe for you 🙂