Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Double Chocolate Kahlua and Salted Caramel Cake

 
Double Chocolate Kahlua Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream and Sugar Cage
 
A good friend and fellow team member Thomas commissioned me to make his birthday cake this year...with only three requirements:  Cocoa, Caramel, and Espresso.  A few weeks later he came to work with a bottle of Kahlua to add.  So this is what I came up with...
 
I added the Kahlua into the double chocolate cake but it lost alot of the flavor in the oven.  So, once the cakes were cooling, I used a pastry brush and soaked each 6 inch cake round with the Kahlua.  It ended up adding a layer of moisture as well as added flavor.
 
 
The salted caramel buttercream was none other than Martha Stewarts' recipe.  Fairly straightforward to follow, although a few times it looked like it was going to separate.  I held my breath and let the mixer do its thing... and it came right back together after adding the caramel.  I added a sprinkling of Sal de Ibiza (salt brought back from my trip to Spain) to each layer, on top of the buttercream. 
 
 
After dusting the top with cocoa powder over his initials I began the sugar cage to sit on top of the cake.  Jacques Torres is the king of all things chocolate and pastry so I was able to find his method for making sugar cages.  The base of the cake was lined with dark chocolate covered espresso beans.
 
 
 
Happy Birthday, Thomas!

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