brandy pavlova
They say it is hard to choose the perfect birthday cake for a man (as they like them all), but we beg to differ. When it comes to satisfying anybody’s sweet tooth, we instantly think about decadent and delicious chocolate. If we are in a celebratory mood and we have to surprise the man of the hour (be he dad, husband, boyfriend, or son), we have to get creative with the chocolate and add some manly twists to the mix.
Homemade Brandy Chocolate Pavlova is a Show Stopper
Of course, you can order a beautiful, delicious cake from a renowned baker. If you check out CakesPrice database, you will find A to Z bakeries making amazing cakes for all occasions. Besides all the information you need to order such works of art, the database also shares a few data regarding prices and offers, so you know what to expect when planning the birthday party budget. If you are in a hurry, you do not handle baking well, or you want something unique, searching for the perfect baker at the most affordable of price is the way to go.
However, when you want a personalized birthday cake, and you want to make the man of the hour drool, nothing beats a luxurious homemade Pavlova with a dash of brandy. We do not want to discriminate, however, as girls love a refined cognac with their cake as well, so whenever you have to celebrate a dear person in your life, think about this Pavlova as the ultimate party cake!
We tailored this recipe for eight serves – for an intimate birthday party. If you want to make a cake for 10-12 attendees, you should consider doubling the number of eggs and icing sugar, increasing all the other quantities by 1/3. The recipe will take you around an hour, an hour and a half tops.
Print
Scrumptious Brandy Chocolate Pavlova Birthday Cake for Men with a Sweet Tooth
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8 1x
Description
Scrumptious Brandy Chocolate Pavlova Birthday Cake for Men with a Sweet Tooth
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites, preferably from free-range eggs
- 2 cups of icing sugar
- 2 tsp of cornflour
- 2 tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice – which encourages the protein in the egg whites to bond and emphasize on the excellent chemistry of the meringue
- 2 tsp of extra cocoa powder
- 3 cups of whipped cream – whip it yourself and do not buy store-shelf whipped cream
- 200g (7 oz) of grated high-quality dark chocolate; separate into two equal 100g (3.5 oz) portions
- ¼ cup of brandy; optional, for a milder, smoother taste, you can replace the brandy with whiskey cream or other sweet (alcoholic) liqueur
- Optionally fresh fruit, edible flowers, coffee beans, espresso powder, and more – for decorating the cake
Accessories
- The simplicity of its preparation can only match the beauty and elegance of the Pavlova cake. You do not have to be a professional chef to make this artwork at home. These are all the baking accessories you need:
- 2x10 inch cake pans with removable bottoms; alternatively, if you do not have dedicated cake pans, you can use two regular baking trays
- Parchment paper
- Large glass mixing bowl; specialists do not recommend you make meringue in plastic bowls, as they retain the oils in the eggs, turning your merengue flat and lifeless
- A spatula
- A cake stand for presentation
- An electric mixer
Instructions
- 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.
- Preheat the oven at 300˚F;
- 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;
- 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.
- 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;
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Whip the cream with the mixer and gently fold in the brandy with the spatula. Make sure you do not over-whip the cream.
- Assembly and Decoration
- 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.
- Place a circle of decorative bakery paper on the cake stand for safe measure;
- Place one meringue disc on the stand;
- 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;
- 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.
- 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.
- You can serve the Pavlova immediately or keep it in the fridge for later tonight to surprise the birthday boy and your guests.
- Category: Desserts
i’m going to try this on the weekend. it’s Hubby’s birthday next month so i’ll see how it turns out. looks scrummy
Very tasty. Highly recommended!