My Birthday Cake

I'm baaaaaaaack....

Dear Readers, I'm just finishing off a bowl of a personal guilty pleasure -- fresh raspberries with sugar and a sweet shot of creme de framboise, stir together to just bruise the berries so they yield up a little juice -- while considering my birthday cake. 

My birthday is Saturday.  I will be going out to dinner, so a cake isn't strictly necessary in the sense of needing something to finish off the meal, but it is essential -- no birthday is complete without one.  When I was little, I was allowed to ask for one thing for my birthday.  It would magically appear on my desk in the night, wrapped and waiting.  I would wake before it was light, see the gleaming package sitting there, and torture myself for hours before I'd let myself open it.  A cake is another kind of present.  Enrobed in frosting, buttercream or fondant, fragrant and inviting, it breathes "birthday" like nothing else. 

I've received, and baked, a lot of birthday cakes.  Golden cakes, chocolate cakes, raspberry, burnt sugar...pretty much anything other than plain vanilla.  In case I haven't mentioned, I worship chocolate in almost all of its manifestations.  I also love caramel (and please, it's car-A-mel, NOT kar-mel.)  Caramel + chocolate = a state of bliss, add toasted nuts and you've achieved nirvana.   Two years or so ago, I was messing around with recipes for caramel sauce, and was inspired to make myself what turned out to be the ultimate caramel chocolate birthday cake.  I went with a golden cake, soaked with lush caramel sauce, filled with dulce de leche and dark chocolate and frosted with a dark chocolate butter frosting.  It takes some time to make, but this is a truly delicious cake, and it only gets better over the next couple of days (but seriously, you won't have it around for long.)  Toasted pecans or walnuts and good coarse sea salt make a delicious garnish. 


My Caramel Chocolate Birthday Cake


You will need:

Two 9” butter cake layers
@ 1 cup chocolate sauce
@ 1 cup dulce de leche
@ 1 cup caramel sauce
chocolate frosting
(Recipes follow)

Assemblage:

Note:  Dulce de leche and chocolate sauce MUST be room temperature, or they will tear up the cake  when you try to spread them on the layers.

Split each cake layer. Place four strips of wax paper on cake plate, then sandwich the layers back together with chocolate sauce. The sauce will work best if you drop tablespoonfuls over the surface of the bottom half, then spread the spoonfuls very gently together. Place first reassembled cake on cake plate, top side up. The top side of the cake, having a crust, will be slightly easier to work with when applying dulce de leche; follow same method as with chocolate sauce to make application easier. When all layers are assembled together, use a chopstick to poke holes down through the entire cake, @ 1 to 1-1/2 inches apart. Pour spoonfuls of the caramel sauce over the cake, and allow to absorb, @ 1 – 3 hours. (Feel free to swipe up samples from edges of cake to test for quality control.) Frost cake sides, then drop tablespoonfuls of frosting on top and smooth together. This cake is best made at least a day ahead to allow the flavors to develop. I recommend making the sauces and keeping them in the refrigerator for special (read, any) occasions. Naturally, you may buy all the elements. But if you do, I can’t make any promises as to the results.


For the cake:
2-1/2 cups cake flour
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of coarse salt, or ½ teaspoon table salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9” round cake pans, then line bottoms with wax paper or parchment. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cream butter until soft, add sugar in stream and cream until thoroughly combined. Add eggs one at a time and mix until each has been absorbed completely, then add milk and dry ingredients alternately. Add vanilla. Transfer to pans, making sure the batter is distributed evenly (I weigh mine, but I’m compulsive). Bake in the center of the oven for 35 – 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place pans upside down on racks until cool enough to touch, then empty out the layers (you may want to run a knife around the edge first to ensure that they come out neatly. (The layers may be wrapped up well in plastic wrap and stored for a day if necessary.) 


For the chocolate sauce:

1-1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa
1 stick of butter
6 oz heavy cream (or evaporated milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Place butter and sugar in heavy saucepan over medium heat and stir until melted and combined. Add cocoa powder, stirring until blended, then add cream very gradually, stirring until incorporated. Turn heat down to lowest setting and allow to thicken, stirring occasionally (you may want to use a flame-tamer if you cannot achieve a very low setting). Turn off heat, allow sauce to cool for 10 minutes, then add the vanilla and stir to combine. The sauce should be room temperature to use as filling, or may be heated and spooned over ice cream.

For the caramel sauce:
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
1 cup heavy cream, heated @ 2 minutes in microwave on 80% power
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Pinch of salt

In a heavy 4-quart or larger saucepan, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water until the sugar is completely moistened. Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is bubbling, about 5 minutes. Stop stirring and allow it to boil undisturbed until it turns a deep amber color (keep a close eye on it, this happens fast). Immediately remove it from the heat and slowly and carefully pour the hot cream into the caramel. It will bubble up furiously. Using a high-temperature, heat-resistant rubber spatula, or a wooden spoon, stir the mixture until smooth, scraping up the thicker part that settles on the bottom. If any lumps develop, return the pan to the heat and stir until they dissolve. Stir in the butter. The mixture will be streaky but will become uniform after cooking slightly and stirring. Allow to cool for 3 minutes and then gently stir in the vanilla extract. This, too, is amazing over ice cream. If you would like a thicker caramel, more like a spread, reduce the cream by half.

For the dulce de leche:

Take one can of sweetened condensed milk, remove label, and drop into a stockpot of cold water deep enough to cover the can by 3 – 4 inches. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, and cook for @ 3-1/2 hours. Remove from water and allow to cool before opening, then transfer to airtight container and store in refrigerator until needed. Try not to eat all of it from your finger in dollops.

For the frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1-1/2 cups cocoa powder
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Cream butter, sugar and cocoa together; add egg white, pinch of salt and vanilla extract and cream until combined. IF the frosting is stiff, add a tablespoon of cream or evaporated milk and blend in until it reaches spreadable consistency.