This is one other keeper. Had no plans to blog on this and did not prepare for a better photo shoot. However, this being a keeper, wanted to save this recipe ☺
Ingredients (Yields - a quarter sheet, 4 layer cake - serving 15 - 20 pieces):
Caramelized nuts for a crunchy layer:
Almonds / Cashew Nuts -- 2 cups chopped roughly (a mixture of both together works too)
Sugar -- 2 cups
Butter -- 3 tbsp
Cake:
All Purpose Flour -- 2 cups
Eggs -- 4
Sugar -- 1 cup
Salt -- ½ tsp
Sour Cream -- 1 cup
Baking Soda -- 1 tsp
Baking Powder -- 2 tsp Dulce de Leche -- 14oz / 1 can
Evaporated Milk -- 8 oz
Dulce de Leche -- 14oz / 1 can
Dulce de Leche Cream:
Butter (room temperature) -- 8 oz
Cream Cheese (room temperature) -- 8 oz
Dulce de Leche -- 14 oz / 1 can
Heavy whipping cream -- 16 oz
Preparation:
Dulce de leche can be bought from the store or prepared from condensed milk cans. I usually go for condensed milk as that gives me a better flavour.
Remove the paper cover from the condensed milk cans. Fill a pressure cooker / instant pot with water to cover the cans completely. Pressure cook for ~45-50 minutes. Once the cans are cool to touch, take it out of the water and let it cool completely before opening the can. Leaving the cans in the water will let it rust and the cooker will be hard to clean.
I usually leave the cans on the counter overnight to avoid any risk of opening the hot cans. This can be prepared days in advance.
Caramelized nuts for a crunchy layer:
Prepare a pan lined with parchment paper, to pour in the hot caramelized nuts.
Add the sugar into a heavy bottomed pan and let it caramelize. Once it turns into a light brown colour, add the butter and stir in well until completely melted. Meanwhile, it will turn a little darker. Switch off the flame. Add in the chopped nuts and stir well.
Pour the mixture onto the prepared pan and spread. Let it cool.
Once it is completely cool, using a rolling pin, crack/powder them into crunchy bites. You may also pulse small pieces in the blender.
Store in an air tight container. This can also be made well in advance. I have saved this for more than a month.
Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree with the rack in the middle. Line a large 12x18 inch baking sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone mats and set aside.
If preparing a round cake, three 8 inch round pans can be used.
Beat the eggs, sugar and salt in a stand mixer for ~10 minutes. Once done, the egg batter should be in a ribbon fall consistency - the batter should fall like a ribbon and stay so for 2-3 seconds.
Meanwhile, in another bowl whisk/beat the sour cream, dulce de leche and baking soda until no lumps are left over. Make sure to use a bigger bowl than the quantity to start with as whipping the mixture will aerate and increase the volume.
Fold the two mixtures together. Make sure not to over mix, else the batter will be deflated.
Divide the batter into equal parts and spread to form an even layer. Bake for 9 minutes for the sheet pans (12 minutes if using the round pans). A toothpick inserted should come out clean at this stage. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
Dulce de Leche Syrup for soaking:
Combine the evaporated milk and the dulce de leche with a whisk or blender until there are no lumps.
Dulce de Leche Cream:
Add the butter and cream cheese into a bowl and whip them for ~4-5 minutes until fluffy. Divide the dulce de leche into 2 and add one after the other, whipping in between to have it just incorporated. Do not over mix.
Whip the cream using a mixer, until medium peaks and fold it into the butter cheese mixture, again in two additions, making sure not to deflate both the mixtures.
Assemble the cake:
Invert the cakes onto another sheet pan or cutting board and peel off the parchment paper. Cut each cake into two equal pieces - for the four layers. (If using a round pan, cut each cake horizontally into equal pieces for 6 layers.)
Keep aside ~2 cups of the cream to decorate the outside of the cake.
On the serving plate or cake board, spread a thin layer of the cream and align the first cake layer. Layer the cake by soaking each layer with the soaking syrup, spread the cream on top and then sprinkle the crunchy caramelized nuts over the cream. Divide each of these equally into the number of cake layers.
Repeat for each layer. Once the final is done, decorate the top and sides with the reserved cream.
Use ganache or chocolate chips or any topping as required to decorate.
Chill for 4 -5 hours before serving. Serve cold.