Full question
I've made The Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova on numerous occasions and it's always been a massive hit with family and friends. However, I have wondered if the white caster sugar could be substituted with golden caster sugar for the the meringue base? Or, alternatively, if I only had icing sugar (white or golden) would this also be a suitable alternative? Thank you.
Our answer
Nigella's Chocolate Pavlova (from NIGELLA SUMMER) has a meringue base that is flavoured with cocoa powder. It produces a chewy, almost brownie-like meringue that is topped with whipped cream and raspberries. Golden caster sugar (sold as "Golden Sugar" in some parts of the US) is made from unrefined cane sugar, which gives the sugar a slightly caramel-like flavour. As the sugar has fairly fine crystals, it can be substituted for regular caster sugar in many recipes and we suspect that it would work well in the Chocolate Pavlova meringue. However, make sure that it is golden caster sugar and not golden granulated sugar, as the crystals in golden granulated sugar are too large to dissolve properly in the meringue and will give it a grainy texture.
Caster (superfine) sugar is preferred for meringues as it dissolves relatively quickly and evenly in the whisked egg whites. The sugar helps with the structure of the raw and baked meringue. Some recipes do use icing (confectioners') sugar in meringues, but these are generally French meringue recipes, where the meringues are baked until fully dried out. The icing sugar dissolves almost instantly and gives the baked meringues a very dry, crumbly, almost chalky texture. Unfortunately, we would not recommend icing sugar of any type for pavlova as you want a soft marshmallowy centre and crisp exterior and icing sugar could affect this texture. Icing sugar also contains anti-caking agents, which could affect the texture of the pavlova meringue.
Tell us what you think
Thank you {% member.data['first-name'] %}.
Explore more questionsYour comment has been submitted.