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Baking | Sinful Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche … chocolate + toffee = heavenly!

“In today’s world, when many of yesterday’s fashionable habits are today’s misdemeanors, we should rejoice that a chocolate dessert can bring so much innocent pleasure.”
Marcel Desaulniers

hocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche 1Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche … a sweet beginning to 2014. Always fun to end a year decadently {Dark Chocolate Kumquat Amaranth Mousse Cakes}, and begin the next one on a clean slate. As in my case, maybe with a dose of some more decadence? Actually, it’s more of a ritual because the daughter was born on the 2nd of Jan. Every year begins with a baking frenzy, and of late, chocolate is being demanded more than ever before!

Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche It was more frenzied when she was young as there had to be cookies, brownies, dips too. The works! As they grow up, the pressure here falls … increases everywhere else I have to add! This year was the big 18 and most of her day went with friends as expected. For me, it was a situation which reminded me of Driving Ms Daisy … I drove her up and down all day long! Since I love driving, I cannot complain!

Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche The previous day was busier than I could manage. The cake became a rushed affair. I did have this fancy fondant cake in mind, the colours that she would have loved, with stuff on top which might have knocked her breath away etc… that remained in my dreams! Instead, between racing around like a headless chicken for two whole days, I threw in one genoise after another. Cakes baked, frosting was the next challenge. Thankfully I had a tin of dulce de leche made from an earlier batch when I did this Banoffee Pie.

Dulce de leche,” meaning candy of milk or milk jelly in Spanish, is a rich and decadent sauce or syrup, similar in flavor to caramel. Unlike caramel, however, which is made by heating sugar, dulce de leche is prepared by heating sweetened condensed milk. Dulce de leche is especially common in the desserts of various South American countries, including Argentina and Uruguay.

Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche Might work I thought. Well it had to because I had cut it too fine. While she had a friend over to ring in her birthday at midnight, the poor mother stood in freezing January temperatures trying desperately to fill a chocolate genoise with a hair brained ‘toffee inspired‘ filling idea. Fast approaching the Cinderella hour, I ended up using an adjustable dessert ring  {one of my best buys in Sydney many years ago} and gelatin to stabilize the filling.
Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche Thankfully it turned out fine and ‘set‘ overnight, else I might have wept copious tears. Chocolate and toffee are a wonderful combination. With less than an hour in hand, I did a quick dark chocolate ganache to frost the cake, and made some shards to garnish. There was just enough time to give it a dusting of powdered sugar, take a few snaps …

Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche … and the rest is history! I didn’t get any shots of a slice as the cake went pretty quick after the 18 year old did the honours. I am however sure I will make this again soon. Maybe as soon as I get those cans of condensed milk into the pressure cooker again!

[print_this]Recipe: Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche your picture

Summary: Chocolate and toffee are a pairing made in Dulce de leche heaven. This Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche makes a fab special occasion cake. It needs a little advance planning though, like all good things in life do!

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 2.5 hours plus setting time Ingredients:

  • Chocolate Genoise Cake {x 2; I made 2 cakes and cut them horizontally each to get 4 layers}
  • 4 eggs
  • 90g granulated vanilla sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 50g all-purpose flour
  • 45g dark cocoa powder
  •  20g butter, melted
  • Filling 
  • 3/4 thick portion dulce de leche from 1 tin condensed milk
  • 500ml low fat cream, chilled
  • 2 tsp gelatin powder
  • Frosting
  • 200g dark couverture chocolate
  • 200g low fat cream
  • 25g honey
  • Dulce de leche sauce
  • Remaining dulce de leche 1/4 portion from above
  • 15g salted butter
  • 100g low fat cream {or as required for pouring consistency}

Method:

  1. Chocolate Genoise Cake {I made 2}
  2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line, grease & flour 2 X 8-inch round cake pan.
  3. Sift the flour and cocoa together three times; reserve.
  4. Bring some water to a boil in a large pan & reduce to simmer. Place eggs, vanilla & sugar in a large bowl. Place over pan of simmering water, and beat constantly until tripled in volume.
  5. Take off heat and continue to beat for another 3-4 minutes until the mixture cools a bit.
  6. Sift about one-third of the flour and cocoa over the whipped eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the mixture-quickly but gently-until combined. Fold in half the remaining flour and cocoa, then fold in the rest.
  7. Scoop about 1 cup of the batter into the bowl with the melted butter and fold together until completely combined. Use the large rubber spatula to fold the butter mixture completely into the remaining batter. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and level with a spatula.
  8. Bake until the cake beginning to shrink slightly around the edges and the top springs back when pressed with your finger, about 40 minutes. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack. Cut horizontally into 2.
  9. Repeat for second cake. Total 2 cakes and 4 layers.
  10. Filling
  11. Mix 50ml cream and gelatin in a bowl. Keep over simmering water to dissolve. Mix well.
  12. Whisk in 100 ml low fat cream into the 3/4 portion of the dulce de leche to loosen it
  13. Beat the remaining cream to medium stiff peaks. Fold in the dulce de leche mixture gently, followed by the gelatin.
  14. Assemble
  15. Place 1 layer of genoise on serving platter and place adjustable dessert ring around it. Top with 1/3 of the filling. {If the cake is dry, brush it with a simple sugar syrup first {1/3 cup sugar + 1/4 cup water + 1 tbsp liqueur if you like}
  16. Repeat with the next few layers and cover and allow to set overnight.
  17. Frosting
  18. Dark chocolate ganache
  19. Place chocolate and cream in a heat proof bowl. Microwave for 1 minute at a time. Stir and repeat as necessary. Once the chocolate has melted, add the honey and whisk well to combine until glossy and smooth. Cool before using.
  20. Unmold the cake and give it a slight crumb coat with a little ganache. Set in the fridge for 30 minutes, then use the remaining ganache to frost the cake.
  21. Dulce de leche sauce
  22. While the ganache is setting, gently simmer the ingredients in a heavy bottom small saucepan. {Begin with half the cream and add as required. The amount will depend on how thick the dulce de leche is. Mine was considerably thick}
  23. Reserve in serving jug and cool until the ganache sets.
  24. Pour along the sides of the cake, allowing drips over the sides.
  25. Finish
  26. Finish the border with dark chocolate shards and a dusting of powdered sugar.

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deeba
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About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

11 Comments

  • Jamie

    What a sweet beginning to a new year – the daughter’s birth and birthday, I mean. And oh to have someone make something so amazing, gorgeous and decadent for me on my birthday! Stunning! Absolutely stunning! Happy birthday, daughter…. boy do they grow up so fast!

    xoxox Happy Joyous Healthy New Year, dear Deeba, to you and your family!

  • Rosa

    Terrific looking and sounding! That cake is magnificent and very tempting. A great way to start the New Year.

    Best wishes for 2014!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  • Coco in the Kitchen

    Happy belated birthday to your baby! Although she’s a young lady now, she’ll always be your baby.
    This is the supermodel of chocolate cakes. Simply gorgeous. The delicate chocolate shavings dusted with powdered sugar. The paint-drips of dulce-de-leche, just simply beautiful.
    Happy 2014, Deeba! xoxo

  • Suma Rowjee

    Birthday wishes to the very talented young lady! I don’t relish digging into a can of DDL, but can imagine it will taste delicious lightened with whipped cream and then paired with chocolate. Wow, lovely cake!

  • gloria

    hehe! Of course I adore dulce de leche, we grow boiled tins of condensed milk!
    And your dessert look georgeous Deeba, absolutely delicious, hugs dear
    xxxxx

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