Scrumptious Brandy Chocolate Pavlova Birthday Cake for Men with a Sweet Tooth

Instructions

1. Now we reached the central point and the hardest step of this recipe. Before you begin, make sure the kitchen is crystal-clear, the temperature is cold, and you washed your hands thoroughly. Beyond standard issues of hygiene, handling the ingredients with oily hands can ruin the fluff of the cake, while a high kitchen temperature will flatten the meringue while you make it.
2. Preheat the oven at 300˚F;
3. Line the two cake pans with the baking paper (cut the two pieces of parchment paper in circles, so they perfectly fit the 10-inch circumference of the cake pans); you can add a few drops of vegetable oil to spread onto the parchment paper for safe measure, especially if your oven tends to brown cakes;
4. Put the egg whites in the bowl and start whisking them with the mixer on high speed; add the sugar progressively, continuously mixing. After 5 minutes, you should obtain a glossy, luscious meringue that forms white peaks. If you want to make sure that the meringue is what you need it to turn the bowl upside down slowly and carefully – the meringue should stay in the bowl despite gravity.
5. Using the spatula, gently fold in the meringue the lemon juice, cocoa powder, one of the two 3.5 oz of dark grated chocolate, and the cornflower; for a marbled effect, sift the cocoa powder and the chocolate gratings and mix in gentle swirls;
6. Divide the meringue into two equal portions; put each half of the meringue in a cake pan and level the surface gently with a metal spoon; make sure you add more meringue to the edges of the pans and leave a slight depression in the middle of the pan for even cooking and better cake assembling.
7. Put both pans in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until each merengue disc is crisp; make sure you place the pans on the same oven tray to receive the same amount of heat from all directions.
8. Take both the cake pan out of the oven and let them cool down completely; if they cannot cool down soon enough, let them stay overnight. Use the removable bottom cake pan feature to gently and safely remove the fragile meringue discs.
9. Whip the cream with the mixer and gently fold in the brandy with the spatula. Make sure you do not over-whip the cream.
10. Assembly and Decoration
11. Now, this is the most beautiful part of the Pavlova making process. If you prepare this birthday cake for dad, involve the kids in the decoration process. Their ideas may be a bit overboard, but they will feel like essential parts of the family, and you will all have fun.
12. Place a circle of decorative bakery paper on the cake stand for safe measure;
13. Place one meringue disc on the stand;
14. Top the first layer with half the whipped cream; optionally, you can spread the cream layer with more cocoa powder, chocolate shavings, espresso powder, finely chopped fresh fruit, freshly grated orange zest, and even M&Ms for crunchiness, chocolate chunks, caramel sauce, taffy bits, nuts, and more;
15. Put the second disc on top of the whipped cream layer with infinite care, but do not apply too much pressure – you risk dismantling the entire cake. In case you have some whipped cream left, take out the brandy and make your version of Russian coffee to treat yourself after all this hard work.
16. Add the second portion of the whipped cream and sprinkle with the remaining 3.5 dark chocolate shavings, fresh fruit for a summery taste, coffee beans, espresso powder, brandy-infused cherries, colored decorative candy, and anything you know will impress the man of the hour.
17. You can serve the Pavlova immediately or keep it in the fridge for later tonight to surprise the birthday boy and your guests.