Chocolate Crumpet Caramel Cake Stacks Food

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL-CREME CANDY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch square cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
• Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk the melted butter, buttermilk, egg, vanilla and 1/2 cup water together in another bowl until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking until just combined. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans, smoothing the tops. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through cooking, until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
• Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Discard the parchment paper and flip the cakes right side up again. Let the cakes cool completely.
• Make the caramel creme: Heat 1/2 cup sugar in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it turns dark amber in color, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the heavy cream (mixture will bubble up). When the bubbles subside, add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the salt and stir until both dissolve in the caramel. Scrape the caramel into the bowl of a food processor and let cool completely.
• Combine the gelatin with 1 tablespoon cold water in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes to soften. Heat the gelatin in the microwave until it melts completely, about 10 seconds, stirring to dissolve. Add the gelatin mixture, cream cheese and sour cream to the food processor and process until smooth. Scrape the caramel creme filling into a bowl and refrigerate, checking every 5 minutes, until it is just thick enough to spread, 5 to 15 minutes. (Do not let the filling firm up too much.) Before layering the cake, give the mixture a good whisking to aerate it slightly. This will make for a lighter texture.
• Place one cake on a cake stand and pile the caramel filling in the center, spreading it in a thick layer almost to the edge. Top with the remaining cake, aligning the layers directly on top of each other so the cake does not lean. Refrigerate the assembled cake for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the chocolate ganache: Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan then remove from the heat. Add the chocolate, shaking the pan gently to submerge it. Allow the pan to stand, off the heat, for 3 minutes to melt the chocolate. Whisk the ganache until smooth, then refrigerate until it is just thick enough to spread (like mayonnaise), about 15 minutes. (Do not let the ganache harden too much.)
• Stir the ganache again and scoop it on top of the cake, spreading it over the top and sides. Refrigerate the cake until the ganache is set, at least 2 hours or overnight.

CHOCOLATE CRUMPET CARAMEL CAKE STACKS

Steps:

• Beat the egg, sugar and vanilla essence together.Add half the amount of milk and melted butter.Add the sifted flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder to the egg mixture. Mix through.Gradually stir in the remaining milk to form a smooth batter.Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into a hot greased pan.Cook on one side and when air bubbles appear, turn with a spatula and cook on the other side until golden brown.Stack with caramel generously smeared in-between the layers of crumpet and serve with chocolate, ice cream or cream.Recipe reprinted with permission of LifeIsAZoobiscuit. To see more recipes, click here.

COCONUT-CARAMEL ICEBOX CAKE STACKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the coconut out on a baking sheet and bake until golden and toasted, tossing halfway, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Put the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and dulce de leche in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the heavy cream and continue to beat until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Fold in half of the toasted coconut.
• Lay out 6 cookies on a large flat plate or baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. Put 1 heaping tablespoon of the caramel-coconut cream onto each cookie. Repeat to make 3 more layers of cookies and cream, lightly pressing down between each layer so that the cream just comes to the edge of the cookies. Top each cake with 1 last cookie. Cover the plate loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours or overnight.
• When ready to serve, carefully transfer the cakes to a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Combine the chocolate, coconut oil and salt in a small saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until melted, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and allow to cool just slightly. It is ready to use when the chocolate is no longer warm to the touch but still liquid.
• Pour about 2 tablespoons of the chocolate mixture on top of each icebox cake and let it drip down the sides (reuse any of the excess chocolate coating that drips onto the baking sheet if you need to). Sprinkle the tops of the cakes with the remaining toasted coconut. Freeze the icebox cakes to set the chocolate, about 10 minutes. Transfer each cake to a plate and serve.

CHOCOLATE CRUMPETS

Steps:

• Heat 300ml of the milk in a pan until it just starts to bubble around the edges, then leave it to cool until it is tepid.
• Measure out the flour and then put 3 tbsp back into the bag. Add the cocoa, yeast and sugar and then stir the milk in, a little at a time, until you have made a smooth batter. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 1hr-1hr 30 mins or until doubled in size and very bubbly. Stir in a little more milk if the batter is very thick, if it is too thick the bubbles won't rise to the surface as well.
• When risen, add the remaining 50ml milk to the batter to let it down a little, then heat the grill to high. Lightly oil the insides of 4 x 9cm metal crumpet rings or metal cooks' rings. Heat a large non-stick frying pan or griddle pan over a low-medium heat, add 1 tbsp oil and put the rings in the pan. Spoon the batter into the rings until they are half full. Let the crumpets cook slowly for about 10 mins or until the mixture has set and the bubbles on top have all popped. Lift the rings away carefully. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• If you now want to grill your crumpets, transfer your pan (if it has a heatproof handle) to the grill and cook until the tops are golden brown. If your pan doesn't have a heatproof handle, transfer the crumpets to a baking sheet and grill them on that instead. Can be made up to a day ahead or frozen until ready to grill and serve.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly grease 2 x 23cm loose-bottom cake tins and line with a circle of baking parchment. Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition, then add the baking powder, cocoa and a third of the flour. Mix well to combine, then stir in half the soured cream. Alternating between adding the flour and soured cream, mix everything until just combined. Spoon into the prepared tins, then smooth over the surface with a spoon.
• Bake for 30 mins or until the cakes are firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 mins, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
• When you're ready to serve, whip the double cream with 2 tbsp Dulce de leche until soft peaks form. Place 1 cake on a serving plate and spread with half the cream, then drizzle over the remaining Dulce de leche. Top with the other cake, then spread the remaining cream on top. Sprinkle with the chocolate. Chill until ready to serve.

EASY CARAMEL CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter two 20cm springform tins and line the bases with baking parchment.
• Beat the butter and both sugars in a bowl with an electric whisk for a few mins until lighter in colour and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour and beating in between each egg. Add the remaining flour and milk. Divide between the cake tins and bake for 25-30 mins until they're golden, spring back when pressed, and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Cool in the tins for a few mins, then tip out and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, for the icing, put the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk for a few mins until light and airy. Whisk in the caramel briefly, adding 1 tbsp of boiling water to loosen, if needed. Set aside until the sponges are completely cool before assembling, or the icing will melt.
• Use half the icing to sandwich the cakes together, then spread the remainder over the top, smoothing it out with a knife or the back of a spoon. Leave in a cool place until ready to serve. Drizzle with the 3 tbsp extra sauce (warm briefly in the microwave if it's a little stiff), allowing some to drip down the sides if you like, and scatter over the toffee, chocolate or caramel pieces to serve. Edible glitter, birthday candles or sparklers, optional.

CHOCOLATE-CARAMEL-PEANUT POKE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350° F. Spray 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray; line with cooking parchment paper.
• Make cake as directed on box for 13 x 9-inch pan. Immediately after removing from oven, poke holes all over cake using chopstick. While cake is still warm, gently spread 1 1/2 jars of the caramel sauce over cake. Cool cake completely, then refrigerate 2 hours.
• In medium bowl, beat cream and powdered sugar to stiff peaks. Spread over top of cake; drizzle with remaining caramel sauce and chocolate syrup; sprinkle with peanuts.