Ali Irvine

Serving size: Serves 8
Cuisine type: Italian
Cooking time: More than 2 hours
Course: Dessert
Favourite flavours: Cakes/baking

Dulce de leche cake

INGREDIENTS

395g tin sweetened condensed milk

For the cake:
200g butter, softened
1 2/3 cups caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, separated
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup cream, at room temperature

For the flowers:
200g fondant or ready-made white icing
Food colourings of choice (we used pink, yellow and green)
For the buttercream frosting
180g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 tbsp pouring cream
1 tbsp white icing colour

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan). Line cake tins with paper.

Make dulce de leche
Bring saucepan of water to boil. Reduce heat to low to create a gentle simmer, submerge unopened tin of condensed milk in water, cover and simmer for 2 1/2 hrs. Remove from pan and set aside to cool before opening. (You may need to top up water along the way. Do not let water level drop below the tin as it can cause it to explode.)

Make cake
Beat butter and 1 1⁄3 cups sugar for 10 mins until pale and creamy, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
Add vanilla and egg yolks one at a time, beating to combine. Beat in half of flour to combine, then half of cream. Repeat with remaining flour and cream.

Whip eggwhites in clean bowl with clean beaters, until foamy. Add remaining 1⁄3 cup sugar gradually. Whip for a few mins until thick and glossy.
Fold half of eggwhites through cake mixture using metal spoon to incorporate. Gently fold through remaining eggwhites. Pour batter into lined tins and bake for 40 mins until cooked. Remove cake from oven and transfer to rack to cool.

Make flowers
Divide icing into 4 portions. Add a drop or two of colouring to each and roll in your hands to disperse colour. Take a small piece of one colour and roll into a ball. Using scissors, cut in half but not all the way through, then snip each half in half again to create 4 petals. Repeat with remaining icing. You should get 20 flowers out of each portion. Lay on tray to set while you finish the cake.

Make frosting Beat butter for 10 mins until pale and creamy. Add icing sugar and vanilla and beat on low speed to combine. Increase speed to high and beat for 10 mins until almost white. Add cream and white icing colour; beat to combine.

To assemble Halve cakes horizontally with serrated knife. Place 1 cake round on serving platter and spread with 1⁄3 tin of dulce de leche. Repeat with remaining layers. Ice sides and top of cake with frosting, decorate with flowers and refrigerate. Enjoy!