Chocolate Crunchie Cake

Any excuse to bake, right!? It's my brother's birthday today so made a cake consisting of his favourites = milk chocolate and crunchies.

Used a recipe from an old Family Circle cake cookbook = 'Melt and Mix Chocolate Cake' and this ganache recipe


Chocolate Cake 

1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
1/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp instant coffee powder (I omitted this as my brother doesn't like coffee)

3/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup soft brown sugar
200g unsalted butter, chopped into cubes to speed up melting
1 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 cup hot water
100g dark or milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to moderately slow 160C (140C fan forced).

2. Brush a deep, 20cm round cake tin with butter or oil and line base and sides with baking paper (I used baking paper only in a springform tin and it popped out perfectly).

3. Sift the flours, cocoa and coffee into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre.

4. Combine sugars, butter, syrup, water and chocolate in a large pan.

5. Stir over a low heat until the butter and chocolate are melted and the sugars are dissolved. Remove from heat.

6. Add butter mixture to the dry ingredients. Using a whisk, stir until just combined.

7. Add the beaten eggs, mix well but do not overbeat.

8. Pour mixture into prepared tin. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre of cake (mine took just under an hour but could be because I had my fan-forced oven at 160C).

9. Leave cake in tin for 1 hour to cool then turn onto a wire rack to continue cooling.

Ganache


250g chocolate broken into smallish pieces
1/3 cup double cream

1. Combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl or small pan over a large pan of simmering water (double boiler).

2. Stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.

3. Remove from heat. Set aside at room temperature to cool, stirring occasionally, until thick and spreadable (5-10 minutes).

Putting it together


 Spoon blobs of icing onto the cake and spread evenly. Top with bits of crumbled Flake and Crunchie or whatever else you like.

Verdict

Mmm! The cake part could have been moister but the taste is still delicious. Perfect icing.

Porridge and raisin french toast with raspberries on top

Here's a couple of the more delicious breakfasts I've enjoyed lately.

Porridge with banana, berries and honey
1/4 cup quick oats (Uncle Toby's)
3/4 cup water or milk
Additions as desired - banana, strawberries, raspberries, honey, sugar, cinnamon

1. Put oats and liquid in a small pot over low-medium heat. Add banana at this point so it cooks into the mixture - this is a great sweetener.

2. Bring to boil and stir until nice and thick. Add berries towards the end so they heat up a bit.

3. Serve with honey and extra milk to taste.

Raisin bread french toast with raspberries
1 or 2 slices of bread
1 egg
Tbsp milk
Additions as desired - berries, banana, cinnamon, maple syrup

1. Whisk egg and milk together in a large flat bowl.

2. Dip bread into the egg mixture (both sides). Don't leave it in for too long otherwise it will be too soggy. About 3-5 seconds each side.

3. Heat and oil/butter in a pan on a low-medium heat and cook the bread on both sides until nicely browned. This should take 5-10 minutes.

4. Serve with fruit, cinnamon and maple syrup.

Caramel Slice

Today I made caramel slice! I was supposed to be getting an awesome recipe for this in the mail from a friend but I couldn't wait any longer. I used this recommended recipe instead:

Chocolate Caramel Slice
(Exclusively Food)

 My version

Base
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed (112g)
2/3 cup desiccated coconut (56g)
2/3 cup self-raising flour (100g)
85g butter, melted



1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Celsius fan-forced).

2. Grease a 20cm square cake pan or equivalent and line the base and sides with baking paper.

3. Stir brown sugar, coconut, and flour together in a large bowl until well combined. 

4. Add butter and mix until well combined. 

5. Firmly press mixture into prepared pan using the back of a spoon.

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly risen.

7. Set base aside to cool for about 10-20 minutes. Leave oven on.
 
8. Begin making caramel while the base cools.


Caramel Filling
30g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
395g (1 can) sweetened condensed milk

1. Place butter and golden syrup in a medium, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. 

2. When butter has melted, add condensed milk and begin stirring. 

3. Stir constantly over medium heat for about 9-12 minutes, until caramel thickens.

4. Gently spread caramel evenly over cool base. 

5. Return to oven for a further 10-12 minutes (a 1/2cm border of lightly browned caramel should form around the edges of the slice).

6. Allow slice to cool to room temperature. This will take an hour or more unless you use the fridge.


7. Begin making the topping once slice is cool.


Topping
150g milk or dark chocolate, melted
1 tsp vegetable oil (or other mild tasting oil)

1. Melt the chocolate with oil in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently OR use a double boiler OR melt in microwave half a minute on medium-high at a time, stirring in between until fully melted.

2. Spread melted chocolate over caramel.

3. Refrigerate slice until chocolate is just set, about 20-30 minutes. Remove slice from pan and cut into pieces. You may wish to heat your knife for a neater cut.

4. Store slice in an airtight container in the refrigerator 

 Verdict: Delicious.. but then again, how could a combination of caramel, chocolate and biscuit go wrong taste-wise? The base is a little crumbly - I either didn't mix it enough (possible) or it needs a bit more butter. As my tin was a bit bigger than what was recommended, my layers were quite thin. I should have reduced the cooking time of the caramel in the oven as it started bubbling which I don't suppose is meant to happen and it got a bit too dark. The caramel is a little more chewy than it should be as a result. Overall a good recipe that I will probably use again. Maybe with a dark chocolate topping next time.