Dulce de Leche Cake

A few years back I accidentally bought a can of dulce de leche instead of condensed milk. I didn't even know what it was at the time. When I opened the can and saw the color I was actually confused, only then did I read the label. I tasted it right away and kept tasting it over and over again, it is sinfully delicious!!

I have used it to make a bundt cake a few times, then I saw this cake in the book Sky High and it has been on my mind ever since. Finally made it for a friends birthday last month and it was as expected, heavenly! Dulce de Leche is definitely one of my top flavors currently.

I followed the cake recipe exactly from the book, but made a few changes in the frosting. I increased the dulce de leche and used some gelatin to stabilize the whipped frosting. Definitely made it easier to work with.

Dulce de Leche Cake

Ingredients:
8 eggs
1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
1 2/3 cups cake flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I used only 1/2 tsp cinnamon)
3 tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
Rum Syrup (recipe below)
Dulce de leche cream (recipe below)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F/ 180C. Line the bottoms of three 8" round pans with parchment but do not grease the pans.
In large heatproof bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Gradually whisk in the brown sugar. Set over a pot of boiling water ansd whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture warms to body temperature.
Remove from heat and beat on medium speed with an electric mixer, until the mixture holds slowly dissolving ribbons when the beaters are lifted.
Whisk together the flour and cinnamon. Sift about a third of the flour over the eggs. Gently fold in.
Repeat two more times with remaining flour, folding gently only until mixed with no trace of flour.
Drizzle the melted butter over the batter and fold in gently, taking care not to deflate the batter ot to leave pockets of butter not folded in.
Divide the batter among the three pans.
Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool completely in the pans.
Run a blunt knife around the edges of the pan and turn out onto a wire rack and peel off the paper.

To Assemble the Cake:
Place one cake layer, flat side up, on a cake board or plate. Brush the top and sides of the cake layer with about a third of the rum syrup to moisten evenly. Spread a little more than 1 cup of the dulce de leche cream on top evenly. Repeat with the second layer. Top with the third layer and moisten it evenly with the remaining syrup. Frost the sides and top of the cake with the cream and decorate as desired.

Rum Syrup:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup rum

Boil the sugar and water over medium heat until the mixture reduces to 1/2 cup. Take of heat and add the rum. Let cool before using.

Dulce de leche cream:
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup dulce de leche
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsps gelatin
3 tbs water

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and let it soak for 5 minutes. Microwave for a few seconds until transparent. Keep aside until cool.
Chill a large bowl and the beaters. Take the cream, dulce de leche and vanilla extract in the chilled bowl and beat on low speed to combine and dissolve the dulce de leche. Raise the speed to high and whip until it just starts forming stiff peaks. Add the gelatin with the mixer still on and whip until it holds peaks. Frost the cake immediately.