Chocolate Salted Caramel Ombre Cake

Ingredients

White Chocolate Mud Cake

• 90g butter, coarsely chopped
• 60g good-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 85ml (1/3 cup) water
• 110g (3/4 cup) plain flour, sifted
• 2 tbsp self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly whisked

Caramel Mud Cake

• 90g butter, coarsely chopped
• 60g good-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 50g brown sugar
• 50g dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 60ml (1/4 cup) water
• 60ml (1/4 cup) full cream milk
• 75g (3/4 cup) almond meal
• 75g (1/2 cup) self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly whisked

Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

• 125g butter, coarsely chopped
• 60g good-quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 220g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 125ml (1/2 cup) water
• 110g (3/4 cup) plain flour, sifted
• 2 tbsp self-raising flour, sifted
• 2 tbsp dutch-process cocoa, sifted
• 1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly whisked

Salted Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 6 large egg whites
• 270g caster sugar
• 375g unsalted butter, softened
• 3-4 tbsp Salted Caramel Sauce (or to taste)

Decorations

• 150-200ml Salted Caramel Sauce
• 15-20 Chocolate Swirled Meringue Kisses
• Sifted cocoa and icing sugar, to serve

Instructions

White Chocolate Mud Cake

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C fan-forced and greaseproof paper one 15cm (6″) circular baking pan.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, white chocolate, sugar, and vanilla. Once the butter and chocolate have melted, slowly drizzle in the water while stirring constantly until smooth.
3. Allow 10 minutes for the mixture to cool in a large mixing basin.
4. Gently fold in 1/3 of the sifted plain flour, then the remainder of the flours, and finally the egg, until the mixture is smooth. Take care not to overmix the ingredients.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Caramel Mud Cake

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C fan-forced and greaseproof paper one 15cm (6″) circular baking pan.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, white chocolate, sugars, golden syrup, and vanilla. Once the butter and chocolate have melted, slowly pour in the water and milk, stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth.
3. Allow 10 minutes for the mixture to cool in a large mixing basin.
4. Gently fold in 1/3 of the sifted flour, then the remainder of the flour, then the almond meal, and finally the egg, until the mixture is smooth. Take care not to overmix the ingredients.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C fan-forced and greaseproof paper one 15cm (6″) circular baking pan.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, dark chocolate, sugar, and vanilla paste. Once the butter and chocolate have melted, slowly drizzle in the water while stirring constantly until smooth.
3. Allow 10 minutes for the mixture to cool in a large mixing basin.
4. Gently fold in 1/3 of the sifted plain flour, then the remainder of the flours, cocoa, and the egg until the mixture is smooth. Take care not to overmix the ingredients.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Salted Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1. Place the egg whites and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl over a small pot of simmering water, making that the bottom of the dish does not come into contact with the water.
2. Allow the sugar to dissolve, stirring occasionally, and heat to 65°C to pasteurize the egg whites.
3. Allow ingredients to cool to room temperature before whisking until white, glossy, soft meringue peaks form in free-standing mixer.
4. Slowly whisk in tiny 1cm cubes of softened butter, stirring constantly until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
5. Whisk the buttercream while gradually adding teaspoons of salted caramel sauce to taste.

Assembly

1. When the cake is slightly cooled, the buttercream is at room temperature, and the salted caramel is gently warmed to an easy pouring consistency, assembling this cake is a breeze (take care to ensure it is not hot otherwise it will melt the frosting).
2. By chopping off the crusty tops of each cake and then cutting them in half lengthwise, you’ll have six cake layers in total.
3. Place the first dark chocolate layer on a circular cake plate or turntable and frost the top with a thin layer of frosting, smoothing it out with a palette knife. Repeat the frosting between each cake layer, starting with the dark chocolate layers, then the caramel mud, and finishing with the white chocolate on top.
4. To avoid crumbs in the buttercream, use the base of the white chocolate layer as the top layer of the completed cake, and place cut-side-down on the top of the cake.
5. Apply frosting to the edges and top of the cake, smoothing it out with a palette knife.
6. At this point, refrigerate the cake for about 15-20 minutes to allow the first thin coating of frosting to act as a ‘crumb coat,’ locking in crumbs and preventing them from entering the final coat.
7. Remove the cake from the fridge and spread another layer of icing over the entire cake with a palette knife. To get a smooth crumb-free finish, repeat the chilling and frosting process 3-4 times.
8. Pour the salted caramel sauce over the cake slowly, letting some to trickle down the edges.
9. Finish the cake with a little dusting of powdered cocoa and icing sugar and chocolate meringue kisses.

Source: The Polka Dotter

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