Chocolate Pavlova with Peach Jam and Raspberries

I made a lot of custard this week, needless to say I had a heap of egg whites leftover in the fridge. We all know the only way to use up these egg whites is pavlova. I did consider making an Angel Food Cake, but the temperamental nature of it turned me off. Sometimes you just need a fool-proof recipe that won't induce baking anxiety.

Pavlova is the one thing I remember baking often when I was living with my parents. After years of fighting through deflated, collapsed and soggy pavlovas, I got it right. Thanks to Nigella for sharing her simple but crucial step of leaving it in the oven with the door cracked open. This was before the days where you could simply type “how do I make sure my pavlova doesn't collapse?” into Google and it would spit out the answer. So you can imagine my excitement when I randomly stumbled across this tip.

This recipe is not the summery light pavlova full of berries and passionfruit that we’re used to, but rather a rich, indulgent dessert. I'm sure you're thinking the addition of the peach jam on a meringue is sugar over-load, but trust me the tartness of the raspberries really does the job. Do not skip out on the chopped chocolate, it turns the marshmallow part into this delicious, velvety, almost mousse-like texture. The meringue recipe has been adapted from Nigella's Chocolate Pavlova recipe.