Chocolate and Hazelnut Pavlova

Serves 4:

For the meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 175 g of sugar

For the topping:

• 300-330 ml of whipping cream
• about 3-4 tablespoons of caster sugar to taste
• 4 tablespoons of a good chocolate-hazelnut spread
• seeds from half a vanilla pod or some vanilla extract (optional)
• some chopped hazelnuts for garnish

Preheat the oven to 135 C (static oven).

Whisk the egg whites until they start to form soft peaks. Start gradually adding the sugar while whisking all the time.

Once the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has turned firm, lay a flat baking tray with baking parchment. With the help of a silicone spatula spoon, form one round meringues of about 20 cm in diameter on the tray. Even out its surface and bake in the preheated oven for about 50-55 minutes.

Once the meringue has baked, don’t take it out from the oven immediately, instead, leave the oven door ajar for the next 25 minutes and let it cool down.

After 25 minutes you can take out the meringue and let it cool down completely.

Next whip the cream until it forms soft peaks (be careful not to whisk it for too long as it might split) and start gradually adding the sugar along with the vanilla seeds or essence while whipping all the time.

Reserve about a half of the whipped cream on the side.

In a separate bowl gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate and hazelnut spread. The easiest way is to initially fold just a small part of the cream and then add the rest.

To assemble:

Spread the the chocolate cream first on top of the cooled meringue.

Finish it off with a layer of whipped cream and decorate with chopped hazelnuts.