Chocolate and Dulce De Leche layer cake

My beloved niece Ataraiti is leaving in a couple of days for her OE so we went to say Goodbye today. I wanted to make something special for her so I created this cake. It's a 2 layer chocolate cake with homemade Dulce De Leche in the middle and buttercream Dulce De Leche icing, topped with Maltesers. We couldn't stay for dinner so at this stage I am not sure how it went but I have tasted all the elements separately and I was pretty happy with them so fingers crossed.

Right let's get to the recipe:

For the cake: (recipe take from the book "500 cakes" by Susannah Blake that my wonderful Sister- in Law and Brother gave me).

- 170g of butter, at room temperature (if you have forgotten to take the butter our of the fridge then try grating it)
- 140g caster sugar (for some reason I put 100g of caster sugar and the rest was brown sugar)
- 3 eggs
- 140g self- raising flour
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease two 20 cm round cake tins and line the bottoms with greaseproof paper. (I just sprayed my tins with neutral oil spray).

Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift the flour and cocoa over the top, then fold in.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tins and spread out evenly using the back of a spoon. It will look like there is not enough batter for the pan but persevere, it'll work.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Then a tip I have pinched from Bakerella: let the cakes cool enough to be able to handle them and get them out of the pan. Once that's done, wrap them in cling film so lock in the moisture.

For the Dulce De Leche: (www.joyofbaking.com)

This recipe makes about 1 cup and a quarter.
There are 3 different ways to make Dulce De Leche. 1 with the tin of condensed milk in the oven, another one still with condensed  milk but this time in saucepan filled with water and the last one by combining and cooking all the ingredients. I chose the last one, mainly because I didn't have any condensed milk and the end product was phenomenal!

Ingredients:
- 4 cups of whole milk
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated white sugar
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup (I have never found corn syrup in New Zealand so I use glucose which can easily be found in supermarket)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Put the milk, sugar, corn syrup, baking soda and salt in a large heavy- duty saucepan.

Place over medium heat and bring just to a boil. Watch carefully and as soon as the milk begins to foam up, stir with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon (I used a whisk), and reduce the heat until the milk is just at a low rolling boil.

Continue to cook the milk, stirring the sides of the saucepan frequently until the mixture become very thick and sticky and caramel colored (about 40 to 60 minutes).

It is important to stir the milk so it doesn't burn. Adjust the heat as necessary. Remove from the heat and strain if necessary (I didn't do it and it turned out fine).

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Let cool before covering and storing.

This will keep in the fridge for up to a month.

For the Dulce De Leche buttercream: (www.bakespace.com)

This makes enough buttercream to cover a two layer 20cm cake and to decorate it.

Ingredients:
- 2 sticks of softened unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
- 4 cups of sifted icing sugar
- 1 can of Dulce De Leche (4 to 5 tablespoons of homemade one)
- 2 tsp of pure vanilla extract (I didn't use it since I had already put some vanilla in the Dulce De Leche and this was to go with a chocolate cake anyway)

- Approx 1/4 cup of heavy cream or milk (I used milk in mine)
- A pinch of salt

Cream the butter.
Slowly add 2 cup of the sifted icing sugar.
Add the vanilla (if using) and half of the cream/ milk.
Mix until well incorporated.
Add half of the Dulce De Leche.
Mix until blended well.
Add the remaining cream/ milk.
Add the remaining Dulce De Leche.
Blend well.
Add the salt.
Continue with the remaining 2 cups of sugar until you reach the desired consistency. Depending on your desired consistency. You might use a little more or less of the sugar.
Mix on medium for about 4-5 minutes. Keep your eye on this as it mixes and DO NOT over mix as the mixture can become grainy.


Assembly:
Place one of the chocolate sponge on the serving plate. Pour approx 5 tablespoons of Dulce De Leche and spread it over the top of the cake.
Place the second cake on top. Place it in the fridge for the Dulce De Leche to stick both cakes together (especially if it's warm). I didn't do it at first and when I covered the cakes with buttercream the cakes kept sliding which made it quite difficult.
Once you are confident the cakes are not going to move too much, remove it from the fridge and pour 3/4 of the buttercream on top of the cake. Spread to the sides.
Fill a pipping bag with the rest of the icing to decorate. I used the Wilton tip 2D (I actually wanted to use the 3M to make big roses but I was running out of time and couldn't find it so I had to improvise). I added some Maltesers on top but you could drizzle some more Dulce De Leche or leave it as is.
And Tadaaaaa, here is the final result (again). I hope you enjoy making this cake and especially eating it. Happy Baking Everyone :)