Caramel Brownie Cake

I had to stick with the basics to make this cake. A gas-fire oven, stove and bowls and spoons were all I had so combined a few recipes and altered them a touch. This ugly cake turned out to be very rich and decadent.

Brownie Cake
adapted from this Ounces and Grams recipe

Ingredients
1C unsalted butter (240g)
225g bittersweet chocolate
1.5C caster sugar (337.5g)
4 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1.25C all-purpose flour (187.5g)
1/4 tsp salt


Method
1. Preheat oven to 177C. Prepare 2 cake pans (9-inch round) with baking paper.


2. Add butter and chocolate in a medium sized pot over a larger pot of simmering water to melt gently, stirring frequently.

3. Put the sugar in a large bowl and add the chocolate/butter mix. After the sugar is incorporated add the eggs one at a time.

4. Stir in the vanilla and salt and slowly add the flour until fully mixed.

5. Divide the batter between the 2 pans and bake each for about 50 minutes (in an old-fashioned fire oven - I'd probably check frequently from 30 minutes) or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.



Caramel ganache and icing
adapted from this Taste.com recipe

Ingredients
1/2 C heavy cream
3/4 C caster sugar
250g white chocolate
1/4 tsp water (it asked for lemon juice in the original recipe but I don't know how essential this ingredient is..) 

Method
1. Boil the cream and then set it aside (but keep it warm)

2. Combine the sugar and lemon/water in a large saucepan.

3. Whisking well, melt the sugar over medium-high heat. It will go from a clear liquid to light brown in colour (this should take 7-10 minutes).

4. Add 1/2 of the hot cream to the caramel. Stir to combine. The mixture may bubble and froth up. Then add the remaining cream and stir.

5. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes then return to heat and whisk until smooth.

6. Grate or finely chop the chocolate (or use choc chips) and place in a large bowl. Pour the hot caramel over the chocolate. Don't stir it. Let it sit for 2-5 minutes THEN stir from the centre, in one direction until the chocolate has melted.

7. At this point I stopped following the recipe. I spread a nice thick layer of this on top of one of the cakes and then sandwiched the other cake on top.

8. With the remaining ganache, I sifted in about 2 C of icing sugar until it was a thicker, icing-like consistency. This icing was really quite stiff but oozy/gooey. It's best to not ice the sides too thickly as it is likely to sink down the sides before it has time to 'set' in the fridge.

9. Decorate with melted chocolate/chocolate shavings etc.

10. Refrigerate until firm then slice and serve!