Today it was my last day at my “old” work before I start a new and permanent job on Monday. The kids got sausage rolls and for the adults there was, of course, cake. A creation of dark chocolate cake and salted caramel, it was a hit …. at least there wasn’t a crumb left on the plate.
CHOCOLATE lAYER CAKE WITH SALTED CARAMEL
12-14 SERVINGS
SPONGE:
400 G SUGAR
90 G MELTED BUTTER
2 EGGS, DIVIDED
45 G COCOA POWDER
250 G FLOUR
2 TSP. BAKING POWDER
1/2 TSP. SALT
225 G FROMAGE FRAIS
1/2 DL. MILK
2 TSP. VANILLA SUGAR
FILLING:
1 SERVING OF SALTED CARAMEL
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius.
Line the bottom of three 22 cm spring moulds with baking paper and grease the moulds. (Alternatively, bake the sponges one at a time in the same mould)
Whisk 270 g of sugar together with 45 g of melted butter and add the egg yolks.
Stir in the rest of the butter with cocoa and mix it in the sugar.
Sift flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar and salt into the batter and mix it thoroughly together.
Add fromage frais and mix to a creamy mixture.
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and then add 135 g of sugar in a little at a time, to make a stiff meringue.
Gently fold the meringue paste into the chocolate batter.
Spread the batter in the three moulds and bake them in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean out of the cake.
Remove the sponge from of the moulds and let them cool completely.
CHOCOLATE CREAM:
300 G VERY SOFT BUTTER
250 G ICING SUGAR
50 G COCOA POWDER
1 TSP. VANILLA SUGAR
Stir all the ingredients together into a soft and spreadable cream..
ASSEMBLY:
Cut four strips of baking paper and place them in a square on the serving dish. Place the first sponge on top of the strips.
Put 1/4 of the cream in a piping bag and pipe a ring around the edge of the first sponge. When the cream hardens in the fridge, it will keep the filling in place.
Put the caramel filling in a piping bag and distribute half on the sponge inside the ring.
Place the second sponge up and press lightly so that the layers are “glued” together.
Again pipe a ring of cream on the edge of the layer and add the rest of the filling before the last sponge is placed on top.
Refrigerate the whole cake for 30 minutes.
Now frost the cake with a thin layer of cream and cool it again. The cake is now ready for the actual decoration.
I frosted the cake another thin layer of cream and smoothed it out as much as possible. Then I put the rest of the cream in a piping bag with rose tip and pipe roses on top of the cake. Finally I decorated with a little freeze-dried raspberries.
Carefully remove the four strips of baking paper and hopefully there is no smear of cream on the dish.
Store the cake in a refrigerator and remove it approx. 30 minutes before serving.