This totally wicked chocolate caramel cake was the front cover of Taste magazine (August 2015) and featured as a cook the cover recipe. I love, love, love chocolate & caramel together so I simply had to convert it to a gluten free recipe.
One problem I had with making the cake - I couldn't source the caramel, Bonne Maman Caramel spread, specified in the recipe. A whole jar is used in the icing & a little is drizzled over the finished cake. I have tried the caramel before, it seems on the whole to be made from caramelised condensed milk. It however has more depth of flavour than a tin of Top 'n Fill Caramel. In the end I made a caramel from sweetened condensed milk.
This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.
Ingredients
Cake
525 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour (175 g/cake)
30 g Cocoa (10 g/cake)
315 g Caster sugar (105 g/cake)
525 g Butter (175 g/cake)
450 g Dark chocolate (I used 54.5%) (150 g/cake)
6 Eggs (room temperature) (2/cake)
195 g Butter milk (65 g/cake)
Cocoa- I used a rich cocoa that contains cocoa butter.
Caramel Buttercream
375 g Unsalted butter (room temperature)
600 g Icing sugar
380 g Jar Bonne Maman Caramel spread#
2 x 200 g pkt Cadbury Caramello chocolate@
# I made the caramel with 1 tin sweetened condensed milk, 75 g golden syrup, 200 g brown sugar and 150 g butter following the method for Choc Caramel Slice. If I make it again I would boil the caramel for 3 minutes and not 5.
@ The Caramello needs to be broken into squares & halved. The chocolate contains glucose syrup from wheat. If you normally eat this chocolate then use it in the recipe. If you don't you can substitute in 280 g milk chocolate & 120 g of a caramel sauce. I did the latter to see if it would work.
Chocolate Drizzle*
100 g Dark chocolate (85%)
25 g Butter (chopped & softened)
* I used 70% dark chocolate. When I melted the specified amount in my Thermomix it looked like it wouldn't cover the top of the cake. In the end I used 2X the above.
Toffee
55 g Caster sugar
Method
To construct the cake you need to bake 3 individual cakes. To cut down on time I prepared one cake while another was in the oven. As these cakes don't rise a great deal I wasn't worried that they would sink if I opened the oven to put in the next cake or take out the one that was ready.
Preheat oven to 140 C (fan forced).
Grease a 20 cm cake tin & line the bottom with baking paper.
Thermomix
Add chocolate & butter to the TM bowl. Melt chocolate at 50 C for 3.5 mins at speed 1. If necessary scrape chocolate off the sides.
Add in eggs & sugar. Mix for 30 secs at speed 4.
Add in Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour, cocoa & buttermilk. Mix for 5 secs on speed 4. Scrape down the sides of the TM bowl and mix for a further 15 secs on speed 4.
Food processor
Melt chocolate & butter together in a microwave or on stovetop.
Put the eggs & sugar into the food processor & blend until the mix is uniform.
Add in the melted chocolate & briefly mix.
Add in Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour, cocoa & buttermilk. Process until just combined.
Both
Pour mix into the cake tin. Bang the tin on the bench to get rid of any air bubbles.
Bake for 20 - 25 mins. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
While the first cake is cooking start preparing the second one & then the third.
Bring out of the oven & cool for ~5 mins before turning it out of the tin.
Allow cakes to completely cool before icing them.
Toffee
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Put the sugar into a small stainless steel saucepan or frying pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for ~3 minutes until golden. It can change colour very quickly. When ready quickly pour it over the prepared tray.
Allow to cool before breaking into pieces.
Place broken toffee into a small sealable plastic bag. Wrap bag in a tea towel & use a rolling pin to pound the toffee into fine pieces.
Icing
Cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy.
Mix in caramel until just combined. My caramel was a bit much for the amount of butter & sugar - the mixture split. I rescued it by putting in more butter.
Transfer 2/3 of the caramel buttercream icing into another bowl & stir in the caramello pieces.
Put the remaining 1/3 plain caramel buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a size 13 or 15 star nozzle.
Assembling the cake
Reserve a little of the Caramello caramel buttercream for patching between the layers.
Place one cake on to a serving plate & top with 1/2 of the Caramello caramel buttercream. Put another cake on top & spread with the remaining buttercream. Put the last cake on top. Jiggle the cakes to make them level.
Use a palette knife to remove excess icing or patch up holes in the icing.
Smooth over the outside & make the layers even. Next time I make this cake I will put the cake in the fridge to chill the icing before smoothing the outside. I would then use a warm/hot palette knife to smooth over the icing - at the moment I don't know whether this would work.
Chill the cake in the fridge for ~1 hour.
Chocolate drizzle
Melt 3/4 of the chocolate (Thermomix, stove top, microwave), add in the remaining chocolate. When the chocolate is all melted add in the butter. The heat in the chocolate should be enough for the softened butter to mix in. If it is not gently heat the mixture again.
Spread the chocolate mix over the top of the cake & allow it the drizzle down the side.
Let the chocolate set before topping the cake with the plain buttercream.
Pipe 8 swirls on the top of the cake. Drizzle with a bit of caramel sauce & top with toffee.
Store the cake in the fridge & take out at least 30 mins before serving.
Indulge!
