Friday 28 February 2014

Chocolate Layer Cake with Homemade Dulce de Leche
















When it's some one's birthday, I believe in going all-out with the birthday cake. Even if that "some one" just so happens to be me.



Chocolate Layer Cake with Homemade Dulce de Leche
slightly adapted from Delicous

For the Dule de Leche:
from Smitten Kitchen
1 litre full-cream milk
1/2 stick cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, scrape the seeds out and keep the pod
1 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1/4 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 teaspoons water

For the Cake:
230g dark chocolate
170g unsalted butter, room temperature
350g light brown sugar
3 eggs, separated
375g cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
500ml buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Filling:
200g dark chocolate, chopped
225g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings:
170g dark chooclate, chopped
100g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Make the Dulce de Leche:
Put the milk, cinnamon, vanilla (seeds and pod), sugar and salt into a 2 litre saucepan (no smaller, as the mixture will bubble up when you add the baking soda). Bring it to a simmer, stirring now and then. Remove the pan from the heat and add the baking soda mixture. Be careful here, this mixture will rise up in the pan and bubbly like crazy, then it will settle down again.

Return the pan to the heat and continue to cook at a lively simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally to make sure it isn't sticking. You needn't be too watchful at this stage.

After about an hour, the milk mixture will start turning a lovely buff colour. You'll need to start keeping an eye on the mixture as it will start to thicken from now on. Stir the mixture every 5 minutes or so until it gets thicker. Watch it like a hawk. The dulce de leche is ready with it is thick and is a gorgeous bronze colour. Set aside to cool.

Make the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Grease two 21cm round cake pans and line them with baking paper.

Melt 230g of the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. Don't let the pan touch the water. Once melted, remove from the heat and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the melted chocolate and beat to combine.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder and stir to combine. Pour the buttermilk into a jug, add the vanilla and mix. Add one-third of the flour mixture and one-third of the buttermilk mixture to the chocolate mixture and beat to combine. Repeat the process two more times until everything is incorporated.

Put the egg whites into a clean bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Add 1 tablespoon to the cake batter and mix to loosen the mixture, then fold the remaining egg whites in.

Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn them out into wire racks to cool completely.

Make the Chocolate Filling:
Melt dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. Don't let the pan touch the water. Once melted, remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Beat the butter with electric beaters until smooth, add the icing sugar, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat again until fluffy. Add the chocolate and beat to combine. Put the final layer of cake on top.

Assemble the Cake:
Slice the cakes in half horizontally. Place on half of a cake onto a cake plate. Spread half of the chocolate filling on top. Put another half of cake on it and spread the Dulce de leche on top (you may not use all of it). Add another layer and spread with the remaining chocolate filling.

Top the Cake:
Melt the 170g of the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. Don't let the pan touch the water. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the cake and sprinkle with the chopped toasted hazelnuts.



24 comments:

  1. Happy birthday beautiful lady! I hope you get spoiled rotten and make sure you take the biggest slice of cake for yourself. With some extra dulce de leche on the side of course ;)
    I have a feeling this might be seen later in the year for Mum's birthday too :)

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    1. Thank you Amy. You can bet I had a huge slice.

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  2. This cake looks delicious, and that photo of the bar of chocolate up above is gorgeous!
    Happy birthday!

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    1. Thanks so much. The camera loves chocolate... just like me.

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  3. Happy Birthday Jennifer! I wish you the best for today and that you enjoy this gorgeous cake! I love the chocolate and hazelnut combination and that you chose dulce de leche for the filling. (it´s our fav in my country!) Great BD cake! So now I know that we share not only a passion for the kitchen but the same month of birth! (mine was 3 days ago )

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    1. Thanks so much Viviana. I adore so many things about Argentina, but one of my all-time faves is dulce de leche. A passion for the kitchen and February girls too, I'm sure we'd be BFFs if we lived closer. Happy Birthday for last week. I hope you had a big, beautiful cake.

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  4. Happy Birthday Jennifer. What a luscious beautiful cake you have there. Thank you for sharing it with us. Hope you have a wonderful day. Libby

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    1. Thanks so much Libby. If a girl can't eat copious amounts of cake on her birthday, when can she, right?

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  5. That second last photo! Such a beautiful cake.

    Happy birthday Jen. I hope today's heaps fun :D

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    1. Thanks Emma. I had a wonderful day, which sort of spilled over into the weekend... lucky me.

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  6. Happy Birthday Jen, isn't it great we can make our own birthday cake and get exactly what we want. Hope you have a great day xx

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    1. Thanks so much Janette. I can't remember the last time some one made or bought me a birthday cake... the perils of being a baker. Not that I'm complaining. You're so right about always having control over the style, flavour, design, size, fillings, decorations... not that I'm a control-freak or anything!!!

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  7. Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great one Jen. Xo

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    1. Thanks so much Sam. I really did have a lovely weekend. I was wined and dined, it was heaven for a foodie.

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  8. Happy Birthday!! Hope you had a lovely, lovely day, and really how could you not when this cake is on your menu??

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    1. Thank you Maria. I did have a lovely birthday. I slept-in, shopped, read, had drinks at the bar, ate at amazing restaurants, went to the movies, and then did it all again the next day - best days ever!

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  9. Happy birthday Jen!!! What a GORGEOUS cake! Have fun celebrating :)

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    1. Thanks Marie. My birthday started with cake and ended with cake. Who'd have thought?!!

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  10. Aww happy birthday Jen :) I'm sure that this cake has put a smile on your face because even though that I don't have it in front of me, I have a big smile on my face :)

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    1. Thanks so much Gabrielle. I was smiling too.

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  11. How did I miss your birthday?? I am a terrible friend. TERRIBLE. But hey, you had this cake... who needs blogging friends when you have a layer cake filled with gooey homemade dulce de leche? I wouldn't. I'd be too busy eating. But anyway, happy belated birthday beautiful one. Thanks for being a wonderful inspiration and totally cool chick. Hope that you had fun x

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    1. Yeah, where were you girlfriend??? Seriously though, I had a lovely day-weekend. There were restaurants, bars, Champagne, cafes, shops, movies, books... and of course, lots of cake-eating. x

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  12. My family like this cake. I make it about once a week.

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