Chocolate Pavlova With Chocolate Mousse Recipe (2024)

Would Hershey's cocoa unsweetened versus Hershey's cocoa special dark blend with 100% Cacao unsweetened and Dutch processed? Which one would be a better fit for the recipe?

Unsweetened, we will change it in the recipe, thanks for pointing this out!

My best success with this fabulous dessert was by using super fine caster sugar in the meringue.

I would either leave it out, or use a tablespoon of espresso or prepared instant coffee instead.

I made this for a fundraiser and it was gone in less than 10 minutes. One person said that it was worth coming just for the pavlova.Noting the comments about the sauce not thickening, I used a different recipe that I have used before and is identical EXCEPT that it uses 4 tablespoons of butter instead of 5 and adds 1/4 to 1/2 tsps of cinnamon. It comes together perfectly every time.

Made this as the recipe required but I needed much more than a 1/4 cup of cocoa for coloring the meringue. Baked it exactly as stated, but the meringue cracked a bit. Word to the wise, do not eat all the leftover chocolate mousse in one sitting at night. I forgot cocoa has a ton of caffeine.

Vinegar would work. Most Australian recipes for pavlova have vinegar (you could search eg Donna Hay recipe). Chocolate version sounds lovely. Best wishes for Passover

I wish I’d read through comments before making this. As others have said, the instruction to chill the chocolate before folding with the whipped cream doesn’t make sense and simply doesn’t work. The chocolate mixture comes out of the fridge like a rock. Next time I’ll fold them together before chilling, or use a different mousse recipe. The pavlova, on the other hand, turned out spectacularly well. This does make a huge dessert - best for large parties. We were eight and barely ate half.

Some people mentioned it was difficult to fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture and it is; the chocolate gets hard as a rock after it's in the fridge for 2 hrs. I'd just fold the whipped cream into the warm chocolate mixture and then refrigerate the mousse. The mousse is delicious but very rich and overpowers the pavlova (I made a regular, non-chocolate pavlova). I'd stick to plain whipped cream next time with my pavlova.

Despite my earlier frustration getting peaks to form, this recipe was DELICIOUS, and even better the next day. The mousse to Pavlova ratio was really high, but extra chocolate mousse is definitely a Champagne problem.

This wonderful dessert is basically too sweet for me (and I decreased the sugar a bit). But I want to add something to the discussion anyways. I enjoyed the cake more the second day. The pieces, i.e., the pavlova, the mousse, the creme fraiche, and the strawberries, seemed more of one piece after a night in the refrigerator. And it cut better too.I had some difficulty stirring the whipped cream into the chocolate in step 8. I did it but it took work. Anyone else have that problem?

Less sugar on the meringue!

I'd like to make individual pavlovas for Passover. Would they still come out as well as one large one? Would the baking time and temperature be the same or have to be adjusted? How many pavlovas could I make from this recipe?

I saw someone else ask the question about whether the pavlova can be baked in advance, but did not see a response. Can I bake the pavlova on Saturday to serve on Sunday? I would assemble with the mousse on Sunday.

Made this today, and I typically have a major sweet tooth, but even for me it was very rich. Absolutely delicious, but definitely rich. Don't skip the crème fraîche, in my opinion, or at least top with some unsweetened whipped cream and lots of fresh berries; it balances the richness of the mousse and sweetness of the meringue. Also, the mousse was so heavy and there was so much that it caused some major cracks in my meringue. I'd probably go for less mousse if I tried it again.

Delish but less airy than a white pavlova

This was soooo delicious! I ended up not using all the mousse on the pavlova because I thought it was too much, but the mousse is so delicious on its own so I'm glad I have an extra little snack. It was overall a little sweet, but I have a huge sweet tooth so I didn't mind. Plus, we used blackberries on top which were a bit tart and balanced out the sweetness. Will keep this in mind for the next time I need to bring a dessert somewhere!

Made this twice, once in individual portions, once as the grand finale. Important to know who will be eating this- the first time was an older more sedate crowd and I threw half or more away. It was just too much for them. The second time was for a younger crowd of unabashed sweet lovers. Now that was satisfying! In both cases I cut out a little chocolate. I’m just too cranky to use that much chocolate in one dessert. It seemed to me that more didn’t add more richness or enjoyment in the end.

It was pointed out that this recipe serves many more than 8 servings. Can the recipe halved?Fred

Make this for the second time this last weekend. A joy, again. It was in celebration of Oregon strawberry season, and it was delicious.I recently acquired a rocker-style 14” pizza cutter and WOW, it made a huge difference in cutting and serving. Strongly recommend. Was able to get nice thin slices that transferred well. Both times now I have made multiple smaller pavlovas instead of one large one, to reduce baking time. Four small ones baked for about 45 minutes; two mediums, about 90.

My new favorite dessert!

I too made this for Passover, and I have only one not-terribly capacious oven. Cut down on the three hours oven time by making four small pavlovas.They came out absolutely beautiful, and a quarter of one of the four small pavlovas made a rather over-generous serving, but worked very well for creating a nice plating.Like others, I upped the cocoa in the shell, and agree that very fine caster sugar is key. Directions could be worded/broken down better. ADHDers be aware!

I found that 250° F is a little too hot for baking this Pavlova and it may bubble inside, leaving you with a hollowed out shell that cracks too easily and an uncooked center. Better to bake it low and slow at around 200°F.

Made this for Easter=BIG hit!Made both the base and mousse a day ahead. Wrapped the base in plastic wrap, left at room temp. The mousse in the fridge. Definitely needed a new whipping the day I assembled. Next time, if I make it ahead of time, will make it through Step 7 and do Step 8 day of to keep it light.Finally, instead of fresh fruit, (which would be delish) I made a sour cherry jam/compote using up some of the surplus we had frozen from last year's crop. That combo was amazing.

I made this yesterday for Easter dinner, following instructions exactly. The meringue was tough and difficult to cut. The mousse was heavy, slimy and gloppy. What a disappointment.

Wow! This was a sickly sweet and deadly combination. The mousse OR the meringue (with a little unsweetened whipped cream and some raspberries) would have been just fine. I read somewhere that you can cut the sugar in the meringue by more than half with acceptable results. Worth a try.

I bombed on this one! Left the pavlova in the oven more than 1 hour. It had collapsed into a cracker. Have done non-chocolate pavlovas very successfully in the past. Unimpressed with this mousse. Not the valentine's day show stopper I had envisaged, but failing to release the pavlova earlier from the oven was a big mistake. I do think the walls had collapsed prior. Oh well.

This was my first pavlova bake, and I had no issues. Definitely need to buy good quality cocoa. Super delicious and a total crowd pleaser.

Made with Mom for Xmas 2021.

I was able to make 18 individual portions out of the recipe instead of one large one. I baked them for about 40 min and they were still somewhat chewy. It was an extremely humid day here so I believe that played a role. 50 minutes would be just about right for anyone else who would like to try it. Happy baking!