DARK CHOCOLATE SALTED CARAMEL LAYER CAKE: (rebekahs-family) CAKE: 3 Cups sugar, 2 ½ 2Cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 Cup + 2 Tbsp cocoa, 2 ¼ tsp baking powder, 2 ¼ tsp bicarb, 1 ½ tsp salt, 3eggs, 1 ½ Cups milk, ¾ Cup oil, 1 ½ Cups boiling water, 2 tsp instant coffee granules. FILLING: ¼ 4Cup water, 1 Cup sugar, 4 Tbsp butter cut into pieces, ½ Cup heavy cream, 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ¾ Cup buter room temp, 5 – 6 Cups icing sugar. FROSTING: 250 g semi-sweet chocolate, 125 g bitter chocolate finely chopped, ¼ Cup cocoa, ¼ Cup very hot water, 1 Cup + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temp, 2/3 Cup icing sugar, pinch of salt. TO MAKE CAKE: Preheat oven to 180dC. Grease three 23 cm cake pans & set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb & salt. Add eggs, milk & oil and stir on med speed for 2 mins. Add coffee granules to boiling water & pour slowly into the batter, mixing on low speed. Batter will be very thin. Distribute evenly between the 3 cake pans & bake for 25-30 mins or until a skewer inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10mins then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. TO MAKE FILLING: In a heavy saucepan, slowly combine the sugar & water, taking care to not let any of the mixture splash up onto the sides of the pan. Set the pan over low heat & stir mixture gently until the sugar is dissolved, about 10mins. Dont stir vigorously or the syrup will splash onto the sides of the pan and cause crystalization later, which is very bad. MAKE SURE: Sugar is completely dissolved before letting the mixture come to a boil. Once the sugar is dissolved, increase to med-high heat & bring syrup to a boil. Cover the saucepan & let syrup boil for 2mins. Uncover, reduce heat to med & continue to boil, without stirring until the edges turn golden brown. Then carefully & gently swirl the pan until the syrup turns a dark amber colour. DO NOT scrape the sides of the pan. Remove from heat & add butter. Gently stir until the butter is melted. Stir in the cream. Mixture will foam up, so be CAREFUL. If the sauce becomes lumpy & isnt whisking together, set the pan over the still warm plate & stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla & salt. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any lumps if necessary. Pour into a bowl & cool to room temp. Once its at room temp place 6Tbsp butter in the bowl of an electric mixer & beat until light & fluffy, about 2 mins. Add caramel sauce & slowly add icing sugar beating until frosting is the desired consistency. TO MAKE THE FROSTING: Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted & smooth. Set aside & let cool to room temp. In a small bowl, combine cocoa & water & stir until smooth. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter, icing sugar & salt. Beat on med-high speed until light & fluffy, about 5mins. With the mixer on low speed, gradually blend in the melted & cooled chocolate until well incorporated. Blend in the cocoa/water mixture until smooth. TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Level cake layers if necessary. Place one cake on a serving platter. Top with a little more than 1/3 of the caramel butter cream & smooth in a thick, even layer. Place a second cake layer on top & smooth an equal amount of butte rcream on it. Place final layer on top. Cover top & sides with chocolate frosting using a spatula. If desired use additional caramel-butter cream to decorate top of cake.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 20:15:40 +0000
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