Chocolate Meringue Roulade with Pears

I love to cook with whatever is fresh on the market. So in the last month, I prepared desserts using plums, figs, and peaches. Naturally, I was left to choose between pears and apples. But since I found the juiciest and appealing pears, the outcome was clear - I decided to go with one of the many pear recipes I like so much.

With the fruit selection in hand, all I had to do was to think about the rest of the dessert. And since my freezer is full of egg whites, I made up my mind and made a pavlova roll, more exactly a chocolate meringue roulade.

This being said, if you want to learn how to roll a roulade meringue or make one of the most delicious pear desserts recipes, just read on:

• The first thing you will have to do is to prepare the poached pears. So in a saucepan, mix the sugar, wine, and cinnamon. Heat it up on the stove on medium heat, stirring from time to time until the sugar dissolves and everything turns into a syrup.
• Peel the pears, but leave them in one piece. Add them to the simmering syrup and poach them for 10 minutes or so.

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• When done, turn the heat off and let the syrup cool down. You can prepare the pears the day before. The longer they sit, the tastier they become.
• Great!. Now, let's focus on the meringue roll.
• Place the egg whites along with the vanilla paste, cornstarch, and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Start mixing, gradually adding the sugar. Don't stop until stiff peaks form. This shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.
• Grease and line an oven tray with parchment paper. Spread the meringue on it and bake in the preheated oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes or until slightly brown.

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• When it's ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes.
• Take another piece of parchment paper. Dust it with powder sugar. Invert your meringue into the dusted parchment paper.
• Peel off the paper on which you baked the meringue. Roll the meringue gently and let it cool down completely.
• While this happens, you can focus on the filling.
• Chop your chocolate and melt it. You can do this using either a double boiler or your microwave.
• Prepare your mixing bowl once more. Place the very soft butter in there and start mixing it until light and fluffy. I usually do it for 5 minutes, but it depends. It may even take 7-8 minutes.
• Gradually start adding the sweetened condensed milk, stirring continuously. Make sure it is also at room temperature before you start using it, or else the cream will break.
• Finally, add the melted chocolate and mix everything to combine. Leave aside and prepare for assembly.

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• Re-roll the meringue. Spread the chocolate buttercream on top of the meringue sheet.
• Peel and cut your remaining pears and place them on the cream.

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• Roll everything gently and form a log.
• Bring your poached pears, cut them in halves and place them on top of the log. Add some syrup all over the dessert, then trim the margins.
• Cover and let cool down in the fridge for at least one hour.

We are at the end of the road, and I feel the need to tell you a thing or two about the ingredients used for this chocolate meringue roulade with pears.

First of all, the meringue recipe was invented in Switzerland at the end of the 17th century. It first appeared in a French cookbook in 1692, but an Italian chef improved the dish. So, basically, there is more than one country that can call it its own.

As for the pear benefits, I can tell you that they are highly nutritious and may even have some anti-inflammatory properties. So this is it. I hope you will try this recipe and give us an Instagram tag so we can find out your opinion.