Food /

Brockmans Chocolate Gin Cake with Salted Gin Caramel

Drop everything: Dee, of One Sarcastic Baker, has created a salted caramel sauce infused with Brockmans Gin. She’s drizzled it all over a triple-layered chocolate cake (also, of course, infused with Brockmans Gin). Interested?

Dikla Frances (or Dee, as she likes to be called) is no stranger to baking – her life mantra? “I breathe, therefore I bake.”

She moved to the US 10 years ago from Israel to be with her husband, and hasn’t stopped baking since.

Follow her on Instagram for sweet, delicious recipes, sprinkled with a hint of Dee’s trademark sarcasm.

Her secret recipe for the perfect cake base? Adding Brockmans Gin, hot coffee and sour cream to the mixture. The gin caramel is just icing on the cake… literally.

Scroll down for the recipe…

BROCKMANS CHOCOLATE GIN CAKE WITH SALTED GIN CARAMEL

By Dikla Frances

INGREDIENTS:  

For the Brockmans Gin cake: 

  • 2 cups AP flour (240 g / 8.5 oz) 
  • 1/2 cup cake flour (60 g / 2 oz) 
  • 1 tsp baking powder 
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda 
  • 1/2 tsp salt 
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate (3 oz / 85 g ) 
  • 1/2 + 1 tbsp cup unsweetened cocoa powder (56 g / 2 oz) 
  • 3/4 cup hot coffee (180 ml) 
  • 1/4 cup Brockmans Gin (60 ml) 
  • 1/2 cup full fat sour cream (120 g / 120 ml) 
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, soften (226 g / 8 oz) 
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar (500 g / 17 oz) 
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature 

To make the salted Brockmans Gin caramel: 

  • 3/4 cup heavy cream (180 ml) 
  • 1/2 cup sugar (100 g / 3.5 oz) 
  • 2 tbsp water 
  • 1/8 tsp cream of tartar 
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter 
  • 1 tbsp Brockmans Gin 
  • 1 tsp fleur de sel or fine sea salt 

Old fashioned buttercream: 

  • 1 cup full fat milk (240 ml / 8 oz) 
  • 1/4 cup flour (30 g / 1 oz) 
  • 1 cup sugar (200 g / 7 oz) 
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, soften (226 g / 8 oz) 

Simple Gin syrup: 

  • 1 cup sugar (200 g / 7 oz) 
  • 1 cup water (240 ml / 8 oz) 
  • 2 tbsp Brockmans Gin 

METHOD:

Brockmans Gin chocolate cake: 

  1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line three 8″ round pans with parchment paper and set aside. 
  2. In a medium bowl, sift the AP flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to evenly distribute and set aside. 
  3. Chop the unsweetened chocolate into small pieces and place in a medium bowl, add the cocoa powder.
  4. Pour the hot coffee over the chocolate and cocoa powder and allow 1-2 minutes for the hot coffee to melt the chocolate. 
  5. Gently stir the chocolate coffee mix using a fork until a smooth mixture is formed. 
  6. Add Brockmans Gin and sour cream to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Set aside. 
  7. In a bowl of a standing mixer, place the sugar and butter and mix on medium-high speed for about 4-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. 
  8. Reduce speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time, waiting for each egg to fully distribute before adding the next. 
  9. Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the chocolate sour cream mix. 
  10. Right after adding the last portion of the flour, turn the mixer off and use a rubber spatula to incorporate any flour or egg residue.  
  11. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or just until a toothpick comes out clean from the centre of the cake. 
  12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from pans.

To make the salted Brockmans Gin caramel: 

  1. Over the stove, bring the heavy cream to a boil.
  2. In a wide and deep pan, place the sugar, cream of tartar and water.
  3. Place over the stove and cook over medium-high heat. DO NOT STIR! 
  4. The sugar will start to bubble from the sides of the pan towards the middle. If you notice some sugar crystallization on the sides of the pan, brush the sides with a lightly wet pastry brush. 
  5. Once the sugar gets a light amber colour, carefully add the hot cream while stirring with a rubber spatula. (If you notice the sugar is getting darker on one side and not the other, turn the pan, but DO NOT STIR!) 
  6.  Remove from heat and add the butter, stir until completely melted.
  7. Add gin and salt, stir to combine and pour the sauce into a glass container.  

To make the old fashioned buttercream: 

  1. Mix 1/4 of the milk with the flour and stir with a fork until smooth, then gradually add the rest of the milk. Keep stirring until smooth. 
  2. Place the mix in over the stove on medium heat and let cook. Once you notice the mix starts to simmer, start stirring with a hand whisk. The mix should start thickening. Remove from heat, place in a bowl and cover with a plastic wrap. Let cool to room temperature.
  3. In a bowl of a standing mixer, mix the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. 
  4. Add the flour-milk mixture and keep mixing until a smooth buttercream is formed. 

To make the simple Gin syrup: 

  1. Place all the ingredients in a pan and let cool until the sugar dissolves. 

To assemble: 

  1. Place a cake layer on top of a serving dish. Brush the cake with simple syrup (about 1/4 cup). Spread about 1/4 cup of buttercream and 2 tablespoons of caramel on top. 
  2. Repeat with the remaining of the cake layers and frost the cake with the remaining of the buttercream.  
  3. Drizzle with some caramel. 
  4. Serve room temperature.