Pear and hazelnut pavlova

Preparation – 1 hour + 15 minutes

Preheat the oven to 110 degrees celsius. Line a baking tray with baking parchment, if you want a round pavlova you can draw a circle on the baking paper. Then turn the baking paper over, so that the ink doesn’t rub off on the pavlova.

Degrease the bowl and whisk of your electric stand mixer. The best way to do this is with a few drops of lemon juice and a sheet of kitchen paper. Add the egg whites to the bowl and beat until they form soft peaks.

Gradually add 200 grams of sugar and beat until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Add a pinch of salt, vanilla extract, one and a half tablespoons of cornflour, and vinegar (if desired).

Spoon the egg whites onto the baking sheet, do not flatten the mixture too much, and bake in the preheated oven for around 1 hour. The exact time depends on your oven, the pavlova is ready when the outside is crisp but the inside is still soft. It is essentially a large, soft-centred meringue.

Finishing the pear and hazelnut pavlova – 15 minutes

Let the pavlova cool. Meanwhile, whip the cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar until stiff.  
toast the hazelnuts, briefly, in a dry frying pan and then roughly chop.

Peel the pears, remove the core and cut the pears into pieces.

Melt the chocolate; it is best to do this in a bain-marie. To do this, heat a small amount of water in a pan and place a bowl over it. Break the chocolate into pieces in the bowl and melt them slowly.

Spread the whipped cream over the pavlova, scatter the pear pieces over the cream, then drizzle with the melted chocolate. Finish the pavlova with the chopped hazelnuts and serve the pavlova in slices. Enjoy!