One of the newest members of our creative assistant team, Allison, had her birthday on Friday. When she first started I was introduced to her as the baker. She immediately mentioned her birthday, so I marked it in my mental calendar to make sure I made something for her. When the week of her birthday finally came around I was pretty clueless as to what kind of cake I wanted to make. I asked her what flavors she likes, to which she answered 'everything.' Although that gave me free reign as to the flavor combinations, it almost gave me a little too much freedom.
That's when I hit the blogosphere for inspiration. I had been seeing this fool proof recipe for dulce de leche, and on Tuesday I happened across another one on Foodgawker. I decided that I would try out the recipe, and if it worked, I would use it as the filling for the cake. To my delight, the recipe worked! After two hours of boiling, and a couple hours of cooling off I had made dulce de leche. After that I whipped up some chocolate cake and buttercream and had the makings for awesome birthday cake.
I decided I would also be adventurous and try the ruffle decorating technique that's been racing like wildfire through the food blogs (I know, I'm way behind the times on this fad, but that's just how I roll!) It also worked surprising well, and I'm definitely going to try it again with white icing. The cake was a huge hit at work, many saying it was one of my best yet! This combo is getting a spot in my recipe box for sure!
Dulce de Leche
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1. Take the label of the can and place it in a large pot with water. Make sure the water covers the can and bring the water to a boil.
2. Boil for 2 hours, adding water if it starts getting low. Take the can out and allow to cool all the way.
**The 2 hour time frame gave the dulce de leche a spreadable consistency. If you need it more firm, boil for close to 3 hours.
Assembly
2 7" layers chocolate cake, both cut in half
1 batch of chocolate buttercream
1 can of dulce de leche
toffee bits
1. Take the first cake layer and place it on the cake round. Spread a small layer of buttercream on the top, also pipe a dam of sorts around the edge of the cake, so the dulce de leche doesn't leak out. Add a spoonful or so of dulce de leche and spread it out with an offset spatula. Place the next cake the next cake layer on top and repeat steps.
YUUUMMMM. I'm seriously impressed (and now craving cake).
ReplyDeleteI also love how you wrote that you "whipped up some chocolate cake and buttercream," as if it were no big deal! That alone would have stumped me! ;)