Chocolate and Raspberry Pavlova

If there is one celebrity chef that I would like to know on a personal basis. Nigella Lawson. She can do no wrong. I have all her cookbooks. Any recipe that I follow from her cookbooks always work. Her Nigella Bites cookbook is getting almost as shopworn as my copy of Joy of Cooking and the dearly loved Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (my second ring - bound copy, a gift from my mother as my first copy just fell apart) The following recipe is from her Forever Summer cookbook. It is by far and away my favourite summer desert recipe.

I will only make it when the raspberries are in season. I got some raspberries this week that seem to be okay even though it is still a bit early. They're from Spain and have a pretty good perfume. Out of season, they’re too sour.

For the chocolate base:

6 egg whites - my own Whitelees eggs are so huge that I only used 5 this morning and it worked out just fine.
300g (1 1/3 cups) sugar
3 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
50 g of dark chocolate, finely chopped (50 g of plain chocolate chips will do if you're stuck)

For the topping:
500 ml (about a cup) whipping cream or double cream
500 grams raspberries
coarsely grated dark chocolate

Preheat your oven to 180 C or about 350 F and line a baking sheet with baking parchment or baking paper . Beat the egg whites until peaks form and then beat in the sugar a tablespoon at a time. (it will take a while – patience please) Beat until it is all soft and shiny. Sprinkle the cocoa powder and vinegar over the top and the chopped chocolate. Gently fold everything thoroughly . You don’t want to loose all the air you just spent ages getting IN.

Mound all of this onto the baking paper in a circle that is a rough 8 inches in diameter and pop it in the oven. Immediately as you put it in the oven, turn the temperature right down to just under 150 C or about 280 F and bake for one to one and a half hours. When it is finished, turn off the oven, but leave the meringue in the oven and let it cool as the oven cools. When it is ready it should be crisp around the edges and on the sides and dry on the top.

This is the finished base. It is taking all my self-control not to break it up into bits and eat it now. I could do that, but I don't have enough eggs to make another at this point. I have some eggs, but they were laid this morning and won't be ready to use for baking until tomorrow. Did you know that you can't use a really fresh egg for most baking. The eggs have to be at least a day old.

Now whip the cream (add a little vanilla extract and a smidge of sugar if you think your raspberries might be too sour.)

When you’re ready, invert the base onto a serving dish and put the whipped cream on the base. Arrange the raspberries on top of the whipped cream and garnish with the coarsely grated chocolate. You're ready to go.