This one was a pretty happy accident to be honest. I’ve been wanting to shoot a Pavlova for quite some time now and since I don’t work much with chocolate (because I don’t really like it.. 😅) I thought of stepping out of the comfort zone again and create something with high contrast in both look and taste.

The result was pretty amazing and I think I will be making it again!

• Ingredients for the Pavlova base:
  • 4 egg whites
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vinegar (or cream of tartar)
  • 1 Tbsp corn starch
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

• Ingredients for the chocolate ganache:
  • 150g dark chocolate chips
  • 75g heavy cream

• Ingredients for the caramelized banana:
  • 1 banana, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 3 Tbsp sugar
  • A bowl of ice water.

• Method:
  1. Add your egg whites along with the vinegar or cream of tartar to a large mixing bowl and start whisking them with a hand-mixer.
  2. When they start to become very frothy, gradually whisk in the sugar over the course of three stages.
  3. Add the corn starch and vanilla extract and continue to whisk until you get smooth and glossy stiff peaks.
  4. Preheat your oven to 100°C (if your oven doesn’t go that low, then just make sure it’s at its lowest setting and you can maintain the low temperature by holding the oven door ajar with a bamboo chopstick.
  5. Transfer the Pavlova mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and shape it into a large teardrop. You can use a knife or small spatula to create a fluted design all around the edges.
  6. Bake your Pavlova base at 100°C for 2 hours.
  7. In the meantime let’s prepare the toppings. For the ganache heat up the cream until it starts to bubble. Pour it over the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes before you start stirring it.
  8. In a small, heavy bottomed sauce pan add the sugar along with just a few drops of water and heat it over medium heat until you see it become a nice amber color.
  9. Drop the banana pieces into the amber caramel and make sure they coated with it all over.
  10. Fish out out the banana pieces using a skewer or toothpick and throw them into the ice bath to harden the caramel instantly.
  11. Drain the caramelized banana pieces on a piece of kitchen paper.
  12. Once the Pavlova has finished baking and the toppings have cooled, pour the chocolate ganache over the Pavlova and top with caramelized banana pieces.
  13. Enjoy!