Sour Cherry Chocolate Pavlova

Pavlova! It's a classic 80s dinner party staple featuring the holy trinity of meringue, cream and fruit.

Done in 4 hours

Serves 6

Dish by Hugh Woodward

Ingredients

Meringue

4egg whites

225gcaster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbspcornflour

200gsour cherries

150gcaster sugar

1 tsp cornflour

1 tspwater

Cherries

300gsour cherries

100gcaster sugar

1 tspcornflour

1 tspwater

Mascarpone

250gmascarpone

100gdouble cream

100gcaster sugar

Other bits:

a handfulfresh cherries

a few piecesshaved chocolate

But why hasn't this recipe made a comeback? We're bringing it back with sour cherries, an orange scented whipped mascarpone filling and shavings of chocolate on top. The result? The fanciest looking and most delicious dessert you'll have in 2025.

Method

Preheat the oven to 120°C. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks, then slowly add the sugar a tbsp at a time until the mixture is silky smooth - rub a bit between your fingers to make sure the sugar has dissolved.

Keep whisking until you have stiff peaks, then beat in the vanilla essence and cornflour.

Use a serrated nozzle and pipe a circle onto a lined baking sheet. Gradually pipe the shape of a bowl with a rim around the edge.

Bake the meringue for an hour and a half, then turn the oven off and leave it in there for a further hour and a half.

While this is going on, heat the sour cherries and sugar together until they bubble and form a sauce. Combine the cornflour and water to make a paste, then stir this into the cherries to thicken the sauce. Set aside.

Whisk the mascarpone and double cream with the sugar, but don't over beat it as it'll stiffen quite quickly.

When the cherries are cool, assemble the pav - a nice layer of mascarpone, then cherries, then fresh cherries and choccy.

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Hugh Woodward

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Hugh's culinary life began aged 14 when he cooked spaghetti hoop burritos to impress girls. Since then his colourful career has taken him to performing in Skegness, making cheese in Peckham, running a wine bar on Columbia Road and reluctantly working in a (briefly) Michelin Starred restaurant. He likes fish, things cooked on charcoal, cheap dinners and London's rich cultural tapestry of food shops. When he's not cooking or eating he can be found mudlarking by the river Thames, buying bits in flea markets and hanging out with his cat Keith.