GBBO Week 9 - Chocolate Pavlova

How quickly have these past nine weeks flown by? I feel very proud that I've baked along every week so far - sometimes by the skin of my teeth! As well as watching Bake Off for baking inspiration I've also found plenty of new blogs to read and enjoy. I know we get a little longer for our final bake week so I thought I'd say thanks ladies for all the fab recipes you post week after week...and of course huge thanks for Jenny, not only organising and keeping us all up to date, but for all of her incredible work behind the scenes with brands - you deserve a golden mixing spoon all of your own!

I don't know how I feel about this week's Bake Off. I think Flora was always in danger of going, but Paul seemed particularly scathing in her bakes - even breaking apart her showstopper to prove a point. It almost seemed like he was bullying her a little and made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I'm not sure what he would have thought of my entry this week!!

I used chocolate pastry in week 6 for my chocolate, orange & pear frangipane and I had a particularly busy week so time was in very short supply. I had already arranged to have friends over for a "Come Dine With Me" style dinner so I tweaked my dessert to fit (loosely) into this week's category. Luckily Jenny has let me use this as an entry!

I used this BBC Food recipe as a basis for my meringue but tweaked it to the recipe found below.

Chocolate & raspberry pavlova

For the Meringue
3 medium egg whites or 6 tablespoons of prepared egg whites (I use Two Chicks)
175g caster sugar
25g dark chocolate
2tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp white wine vinegar

For the topping
350ml double cream
75g icing sugar
1 vanilla pod, deseeded
300g fresh raspberries
Chocolate Sauce (I used ChocShot)
Grated dark chocolate

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas 4, line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the sugar one tablespoon at a time until it is all incorporated and the meringue is glossy.

Using a metal spoon fold in the chocolate, cocoa & vinegar. Spoon the meringue onto your baking tray and flatten the middle slightly.

Put into your oven and turn the temperature down to 150C/Gas 2 straight away. Bake for 45 minutes then leave to cool in a cooling rack.

Whip the cream and icing sugar together until you have soft peaks, then fold in the vanilla seeds and a third of the raspberries.

Drizzle your chocolate sauce over the meringue base, then spoon over the cream. Top with the remaining raspberries and grate chocolate to serve.

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