Decadent chocolate meringues made from scratch! The perfect date night dessert, or desser to impress your friends and family! These chocolate meringues are a delicate, elegant dessert that everyone will love!
Happy almost Valentine's Day! And by alomost I mean, it's still a month away but at least we're getting prepared! Not that I actually celebrate or anything, but I'll take any excuse to make chocolate meringues!
I think I've developed a thing for pavlova/meringue based desserts. My best pavlova recipe went off over the holiday season and you seem to be loving my little vanilla meringues too! I can kinda see why though. Meringues are such a dainty and delicate dessert that are SO pretty to make and dress up, they really do make the perfect dessert!
While I do love my vanilla meringues, I love the little extra flavour burst and decadence these chocolate meringues bring. The combined cocoa and grated chocolate balance out the sweetness of the meringues perfectly! They're crunchy on the outside and light and fluffy in the middle as a good meringue should be!
Making meringue is really quite easy to do, with a few extra tips and tricks, you'll be perfecting your chocolate meringues in no time!
How To Perfect Chocolate Meringues
These follow a similar cooking fashion to my vanilla meringues and pavlova, however with a few differences. These meringues do not have any vinegar or cornstarch as a binding agent, meaning they are going to be more on the crunchy side than typical pavlova.
Like pavlova, you start by whisking the eggs (at room temperature) in a clean bowl until firm peaks appear. Next you gradually add in the sugar, beating after each addition.
Once the mixture is thick and glossy, you fold through the cocoa and grated chocolate, making sure it's spread as evenly as possible throughout the meringue.
To get the 'nest like' look, you need a medium sized star nozzle and a piping bag. You carefully start by piping a round 5"/12cm round circle, then gently and careful start to pipe the sides up to build a hollow nest.
These cook in a low slow oven, until just lightly browned and not sticky to the touch. Once the cooking time is complete, leave them to cool in the oven for one hour, before cooling them at room temperature until they are fully cooled.
To serve these little beauties, I dollop some whipped cream in the middle of the meringues, then top then with fresh berries like strawberries and blueberries. Adding mint is a nice little touch to add some greenery as well, and a dusting of icing sugar/powdered sugar to tie it all together.
Have a wonderful week and if you're celebrating Valentine's Day this year, have an amazing day filled with love, laughter and obviously, chocoalte meringues!
Oh and PS - check out this romantic dinner for two for a beautiful recipe for a date night pasta dish, plus a fun way to jazz up date night!
Georgie x
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Meringues
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ tablespoon cocoa sifted
- 1 oz dark cooking chocolate finely grated (note 1)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200F/100C
- In a large, clean bowl, whisk egg whites together until firm peaks appear.
- Gradually add sugar, beating after each addition
- When the last of the sugar has been added, whisk for 3 minutes until meringue is thick and glossy.
- Fold through sifted cocoa and grated chocolate.
- Fit a medium size star nozzle piping tip into a piping bag and fill with meringue.
- Place down a silicone baking mat onto a baking tray.
- Carefully start piping. Start by piping a 5inch/12cm circle. Then carefully, without lifting the piping bag, build up the sides of your meringue to make a nest.
- Place in oven and bake 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Turn off the oven and leave meringues in, door closed until they are fully cooled down (about 1 hour to 1.5 hours)
Mia says
I don't have dark-cooking chocolate, but can I still make this recipe?
Georgie says
Hi Mia - regular cooking chocolate or dark chocolate would be ok!
Val says
Thanks for the recipe! I followed it exactly and my meringues are crunchy. Not unpleasantly so, but I would have preferred a soft chewy inside with crisp outer. I should have followed my instinct to leave the oven door ajar rather than keeping the door closed like stated. Love the idea of chocolate meringue though! 🙂
Georgie says
Thanks Val - they might have been slightly over done but hopefully they tasted ok.
Fiona Manoon says
Just by seeing these pictures , I got cravings.
Chocolate is love for everyone.
Thanks for sharing such a mouth watering recipe.
I am dying to try this out . Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful work of your.
Keep Blogging !!
JOANNA says
This looks amazing! I will definately give it a try!
I hope I will manage as I am not a great cook!
Georgie says
I hope they worked out well! Luckily mini meringues are a little easier to master than larger pavlovas!