Galaxy Cake #FoodieExtravaganza

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month.

Posting day for #FoodieExtravaganza is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

This month Kelly of Simply Inspired Meals is hosting this month's #FoodieExtravaganza. She wrote: "Celebrate National Caramel Month. Create a recipe using caramel." Love it. Here's the list of our caramel creations...

• Caramel & Orange Cake Pudding Trifle by Sneha's Recipe
• Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Caramel Butter Bars by Making Miracles
• Caramel Stuffed Brownie Bites by Food Lust People Love
• Disney's Caramel Shortbread by Simply Inspired Meals
• Easy Caramel Modjestkas by Palatable Pastime
• Galaxy Cake by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Hopjesvla (Dutch Coffee Custard) by Tara's Multicultural Table
• Salted Caramel Mudslide by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Back in August, I hosted a full-day cooking competition for my two boys and one friend each. It was in the style of the Chopped cooking competitions and a way to have a little fun as we are still sheltered-in-place with the corona virus pandemic. Their boxes included: squid, whole black striped bass, black licorice, coconut milk, polenta, jade rice, popcorn, marzipan, craft salt blend from Big Sur Salts, garlic, mascarpone, lemons, bell peppers, rainbow chard, Pink Pearl apples, white nectarine jam, essential oils from Wellness With Toula, chocolate, and caramel!!

The recipe I'm sharing for today's event is the one that Team R-M made and served. This didn't win the dessert round of the competition, but they did win the overall prize! So, this is their recipe, as emailed to me with some edits for clarification.

Ingredients makes one 10" cake

Cake

• 1 package chocolate sandwich cookies (approximately 36 cookies)
• 1/2 cup popped popcorn, optional (this a competition ingredient)
• 1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed and divided
• 2/3 cup organic dark brown sugar
• 3-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled and divided
• 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 16 ounces (2 containers) mascarpone
• 3/4 cup organic powdered sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Also needed: 10" springform pan, blender or food processor

Caramel

• 4 Tablespoons butter 
• 1 cup organic dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup organic heavy cream
• anise essential oil, optional

Finishing

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
• caramel
• black licorice candy, optional (this a competition ingredient)
• chocolate curls
• artisan sea salt (they used some from Big Sur Salts), optional (this a competition ingredient)

Procedure

Caramel

Heat sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring or whisking constantly. The sugar clump before it eventually melts into a thick, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir. 

Once sugar is completely melted, add the butter. Be careful as because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.

Stir or whisk the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, approximately 2 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream which will bubble rapidly when added. Let the mixture to boil for 1 minute. Keep whisking so that it stays smooth and incorporated.

Remove from heat and stir in the essential oil, if using. Allow to slightly cool down before using. Caramel thickens as it cools

Cake

Grease a 10" springform pan and set aside.

Place cookies and popcorn in a blender or food processor. Pulse or process until fine crumbs form. Place crumbs in a large mixing bowl.

Melt 1/2 cup butter. Add to crumbs. Stir until well-combined.

 

Press into the bottom and up sides of prepared springform pan. Freeze for at least 15 minutes. 

In the meantime, make the cake. Place 1/2 cup cream and chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler. Heat and whisk until chocolate is smooth. Stir in the mascarpone and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat 3/4 cup cream until soft peaks form. Add in 1/4 cup powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold the chocolate mixture into the whipped cream.

Remove crust from freezer and pour most of the caramel over the bottom of the crust; reserve 2 Tablespoons for the final drizzle. Spoon the chocolate mixture over the caramel and crust. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Beat remaining cream in a large mixing bowl until it begins to thicken. Add vanilla and remaining powdered sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form, then spoon whipped cream over the chocolate mixture. 

Finishing
Place reserved Tablespoons of caramel in a skillet along with 1 Tablespoon chopped licorice candies. Heat until melted and smooth.

Garnish cake with chocolate curls. Drizzle with black licorice caramel. Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers.

As I mentioned earlier, this dessert didn't win the dessert portion of the competition.  However, the team did win the overall cooking competition. And they liked it so much, they made an encore cake to celebrate a birthday a few weeks later. But they did learn how to make homemade caramel sauce! That's a nice skill to have in  your culinary wheelhouse, right?

And that's a wrap for the October #FoodieExtravaganza caramel party. We'll be back next month when Rebekah of Making Miracles has us sharing peanut butter recipes. Stay tuned.