Chocolate Torte with coconut, pecan & caramel filling

I have finally written up the recipe for the torte!

I currently hate my iPad and am crying for my laptop which is being fixed but it’s taking ages.

The result; it took me 2 days on the damn iPad which kept crashing to finally get the recipe written, pics uploaded and bullets and numbering correct!

I took a day off to calm down and actually made 2 more chocolate test cakes which turned out yummy!

So here you are…intense, rich and moist chocolate torte with a coconut, pecan and caramel filling!

Enjoy!
Cheers!

Mums birthday and day 7 baking…

It’s mum’s birthday tomorrow and I’m baking the birthday cake!

And I decided to put what I’ve learned in my cake baking quest to the test!

I’m making a Germans chocolate cake but using my own recipe calculations!

I used to make Aliyyah Baylors cake recipe and Bobby Flays cajeta recipe sans the goat milk.

It took ages and usually the cake batter would be too thin and the cajeta took hours to get to a thick filling consistency. The results were great, don’t get me wrong, and everyone loved it, but I needed to make it simpler.

So I used the base cake recipe I used before with a few modifications for quantity & to account for the amount of cocoa I was putting in.

For the filling I just made Dulce De Leche in a can and mixed it with brown sugar and coconut milk. It took all in all about 40 min.

The cakes are out of the oven and look chocolaty and nice 🙂 the batter tasted great but I have no idea how moist the final product is…more on that when we actually eat it tomorrow.

Will get cracking on finishing the pecan caramel coconut filling…This I’m where I’m at…

Still missing the pecans and a bit more caramel…

Keeping my fingers crossed that my experiment works in the end!

More updates tomorrow and if it’s a success the recipe will follow !

Wish me luck:-)

Cheers!

Banoffee Pie…the perfect solution for a sweet tooth! The Update!

Remember when I told you I will make the 4th pie soon? Well I have! And this time I took the step by step pics & they are all now available in the recipe which I have also updated!

If you still haven’t tried a banoffee then let me explain…It’s a delicious combination of banana and caramel with a crunchy buttery biscuit base & topped with whipped vanilla cream & more caramel…

It’s silly easy to make and doesn’t need an oven, just the fridge! Scrumptious…delicious…heavenly…that’s how I’d describe a banoffee pie!!!

This banoffee was made with Dulce de Leche which is the caramel from a condensed can of milk. 

And while using the ready made caramel jar was easy, quick and tasty, this Dulce De Leche is even more so! Its creamy, its got a better consistency and holds itself much better as both filling & topping. Just make sure you don’;t taste away half of it before making your pie 😉 Its that good!!!

Check out the Tips & Tricks page for details on making Dulce De Leche.

Tips & Tricks Easy Caramel Dulce De Leche

And check out the updated recipe: Banoffee Pie Recipe

Cheers! & Happy Xmas!!!

Easy “Caramel” Dulce De Leche

Dulce de leche, is a really beautiful topping similar to a caramel with a lovely smooth and creamy consistency. I know dulce de leche is made in several ways, this just happens to be an extremely easy way to make it. It takes a bit of time, but you are not really doing anything, just babysitting the can a bit to make sure its always covered with water, that’s all. Perfect for my Banoffee Pie.  

What you need:

1 can condensed sweetened milk

1 deep pot Water

1 deep pan & spatula, whisk or biggish spoon.

How:

1. Place your can of condensed milk, after removing the wrapper, in the pot and cover it with water. 
2. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down so its simmering.  
3. Boil/Simmer for 3 hours, topping up with water every once in a while (check every half hour or so) to always keep it submerged. It can literally explode if it’s not covered with water. Dangerous and seriously messy!
4. After the 3 hours, turn off the heat and let the can cool so you can handle it.
5. Open the can & voila! Lovely creamy Dulce De Leche! 
6. To use: Tip into a deep pan & place on a low heat and stir/whisk till its smooth.
7. If you don’t want to use it straight away, just store it in the fridge unopened or opened and tipped into a sterile jar till ready to use.