Millionaire’s Shortbread Layer Cake

At the IT company where I work, we tend to have quite a few social events and chances to get together outside of just doing work. I think being a small company makes it easier to organise events and there is a nice social vibe within the organisation that I’ve really enjoyed since I started working here. So usually people just suggest events and then kind of run with them to organise social stuff and I thought it would be really cool to have a bake off at work! I know, really original right? Buuuut seeing as I suggested it, I thought I should really put some decent effort into it! After trawling the internet for a while, I decided on a recipe that included my chocolate cake recipe because I knew that I could make that a few days in advance and then frost and decorate the night before.

I decided to only make a 6-inch (15cm) cake because I knew there would be a lot of other baking and the inspiration for this cake came from Sweetapolita’s blog. I love looking at her blog, the cake recipes are always so pretty and very innovative! So the flavours for this cake are based off a slice, which is called chocolate caramel slice in New Zealand and millionaire’s shortbread in North America. I love different textures and flavours in cakes so the idea of a cake with elements of caramel, chocolate and shortbread really appealed!

I would definitely not put this cake in the “easy to make” category, but if you have all the equipment, it’s not overly difficult either, just time consuming. I loved the chocolate ganache frosting, I used Whittaker’s chocolate and blended a mix of their 62% Dark Cacao and 72% Dark Ghana chocolates, plus some 50% Bittersweet to make sure it wasn’t toooooo dark… You can use whatever chocolate you like, but what I loved about this blend is that the dark chocolate added a rich depth to the sweet cake and the result was an incredibly rich but not too sweet cake.

This is a picture of the array of baking on the day, doesn’t the table look good? There was some delicious baking from other people too, especially some amazing chicken empanadas, yum! Unfortunately we still don’t know who won yet! We find out on Friday, and I’ll update you when I know but for now, happy baking!

UPDATE: I won the bake off, woooo! 🙂

Millionaire’s Shortbread Layer Cake

Ingredients

Cake

45g dark chocolate bits

3/4 cup hot brewed coffee

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cups dark cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1 tspn baking soda

1/4 tspn baking powder

1/2 tspn salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cups buttermilk, shaken

3/4 tspn vanilla essence

Salted Caramel Sauce

60g butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup cream

2 tspn sea/rock salt

1 tbspn vanilla essence

Shortbread Crumbs

1/2 cup flour

2 tbspn sugar

60g butter, softened

Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting

500g dark chocolate bits

1 – 1/2 cups cream

1 tspn sea/rock salt

60g butter, softened

1 tbspn vanilla essence

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

300g butter, softened

2 tspn vanilla bean paste/essence

Pinch of salt

 

Directions

Cake

You can find the directions and recipe for My Favourite Chocolate Cake here. To make a 6-inch (15cm) cake, I halved the amount of ingredients, the measurements for which are above.

Caramel Sauce

1. In a saucepan over a medium heat, whisk together butter, brown sugar, cream and salt.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 6 minutes, whisking only occasionally.
3. Whisk in the vanilla and then cook for just 1 minute longer.
4. Pour the caramel into a container to cool down. When cooled, cover and put in the fridge to use later.

Shortbread Crumbs

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a tray with baking paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and the sugar. Cut in the butter, either using a pastry blender or use your fingers to mix the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles pea-sized breadcrumbs.
3. Turn the mixture in an even layer onto the prepared baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the tray from the oven and use a spatula to gently break up the shortbread crumbs then return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
5. Once they look golden brown, let the tray cool completely on a wire rack and transfer the crumbs to a container until you use them.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

1. Place the chopped chocolate in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of cream and the salt.
2. Warm the cream in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, depending on your microwave. Keep your eye on it so it doesn’t bubble over, it will be ready when you can see steam coming off the top and it’s slightly bubbled up.
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute. Using a whisk, combine the chocolate and cream until smooth. If the mixture is too thick (it should be the consistency of runny, i.e. store-bought, custard) or not all of the chocolate is melting, you can heat up the extra 1/2 cup of cream in the microwave and add that to the mixture.
4. Add the butter and vanilla and mix again until the whole mixture is smooth.
5. The mixture will thicken at room temperature to become a spreadable consistency. If it’s not going fast enough (it never does for me!) then put it in the fridge for around half an hour.

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1. Wipe the bowl and whisk of a stand mixer (or bowl and hand held electric mixer) with lemon juice, to remove any trace of grease.
2. Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl and set over a pot of simmering water.
3. Whisk constantly but gently until the temperature reaches 55°C, or if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot, about 8-10 minutes.
4. Place the bowl back on the mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip on medium-high speed until the meringue is thick and glossy and the bottom of the bowl feels neutral to the touch (this can take up to 10 minutes or longer).
5. Switch to the paddle attachment and, with the mixer on low speed, add the softened butter in chunks until incorporated. If it curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth.
6. Increase speed to medium and beat until the mixture becomes thick and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
7. Add the vanilla bean paste/essence and salt and continue to beat on low speed until well combined.
8. You can keep the frosting in an airtight container at room temperature for a day, refrigerated for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months. The frosting should be thawed at room temperature and then beat on low speed for a few minutes to create a smooth consistency again.

Assembly

1. Prepare all of the fillings and frosting and ensure that they are all at spreadable consistency.
2. Slice the cake layers into thirds (or just in half if your cake isn’t tall enough for thirds).
3. Place the first cake layer on the cake board/plate/taker etc. cut side up and, using a small offset palette knife, spread about 1/2 a cup of butter cream on the layer, leaving 2cm around the edge, followed by 1/4 cup of the caramel and then a generous handful of shortbread crumble.
4. Place the next cake layer on top then repeat this process until you get to the final top layer.
5. Place the last layer face down (cut side down) and frost the entire cake with a very thin layer of ganache frosting. Let the cake sit in the fridge for around 15 minutes.
6. Finish with a thick coat of ganache frosting. Make sure you are generous with the frosting, you won’t regret it!
7. Sprinkle some sea salt around the edge to finish, or if you have extra Swiss Meringue Buttercream like I did, you can add any leftover caramel sauce to it, beat until smooth again, and then pipe little swirls around the edge, just like you would pipe the top of a cupcake. Voilá!