Pavlova Gateaux with Chocolate Mousse, Fresh Cream & Berries

Dad's favourite dessert is pavlova loaded with fresh cream and strawberries but he also loves dark chocolate. For his birthday this year, to combine his two favourites, I decided to make a meringue gateaux filled with dark chocolate mousse and strawberries, topped with fresh cream, berries and dark chocolate shavings. 

Ingredients

FOR THE MERINGUE

9 Egg Whites

450g Caster Sugar

Lemon Juice or white vinegar (to wipe bowl)

FOR THE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

200g Dark Chocolate 

2 tbsp Water

6 Eggs (separate and keep 6 whites but only 3 yolks)

Pinch of Salt

EXTRAS

250ml Cream (whipped)

Handful Dark Chocolate Shavings

Punnet of Fresh Strawberries (washed and sliced)

Method

FOR THE MERINGUE

1) Preheat your oven to 100C/225F/Gas Mark .25, and line two flat bakng trays with greaseproof paper. Trace around a small plate (approx 8 inches round) with a pencil to give yourself piping guidelines when the mixture is ready.

2) Whisk the egg whites on high in your electric mixer until they rise, become glossy and form a peak when the whisk is lifted.

3) Add  half your sugar and again, beat on high until the mixture forms a peak when the beater is lifted. When this occurs, add the remaining sugar and whisk on high for the final time until, once again, the mixture forms a peak when the beater is lifted.

4) Fill your piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle with the mix and pipe onto your baking tray filling the two circles you traced earlier. If you have some mix left over after this, pipe small meringe shapes, as you would icing on top of a cupcake - you can use these to decorate or to simply eat when they come out of the oven instead of having to wait for your masterpiece ! 

5) Bake the small meringues for 45 minutes and the two large for 1 hour 30 mins. Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully before assembling.


FOR THE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

1) Using your electric mixer, whisk the egg whites and salt on high, like you did for the meringue, until the mixture becomes glossy and peaks when the whisk is lifted.

2) In a separate bowl, melt the chocolate over a pot of simmering water. Once melted, add the egg yolks and mix. Then set the mixture aside to cool for 10 minutes.

3) After the 10 minutes are up, add the egg white mixture to the chocolate mixture, one spoon and a time and stir -always in the same direction.

4) Pour half the mixture into a bowl, cover and chill in the fridge for at least 5 hours before serving. You can pour the remaining mix into glasses to chill. You can serve these separatly to the cake.

TO ASSEMBLE...

Make a gateaux with the meringues, using the chocolate mousse as the filling. Spread the whipped cream on top and decorate with the mini meringues, berries and chocolate shavings.