Perfectly whipped double cream sandwiched between layers of sticky toffee sponge cake, dotted with sweet and salty popcorn and drizzled with salted caramel sauce. This beautiful, controlled-mess of a cake is a definite must for when you have friends round
180gpitted dates roughly choppedI used Whitworths stoned dates
150mlboiling water
85gsoftened unsalted butterambient temp
140gsoft brown sugar
2large eggs whisked together
180gself raising flour
1teaspoonbicarbonate of soda
Pinchof sea salt
1teaspoonvanilla bean extract
For the filling and salted caramel sauce:
2bags of sweet and salty popcornI used Portlebay popcorn
600mldouble cream
100gcoconut sugar/soft brown sugarI used groovy food coconut sugar
50gunsalted butter
1-2teaspoonsea salt
Instructions
To make the cake:
Place the chopped dates in a small bowl and pour over 150ml of boiling. Leave to soak for around 20 minutes.
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C and line an 8 inch (20cm) round cake tin with greaseproof paper. For guidance on lining your tin see: lining your christmas cake tin
To mix the cake use a food processor, stand mixer or whisk by hand. If using a stand mixer use the beater attachment. Cube the softened butter and add to your bowl, processor or stand mixer. Next add the brown sugar and then cream together (start the stand mixer on a low speed and gradually increase to high). When fully mixed together the creamed butter a sugar will appear light and fluffy.
Continue to whisk or beat the butter mix and gradually add in the 2 whisked eggs. Add the eggs slowly to stop the mixture from splitting. Once all the egg is combined, stop whisking or turn off the mixer, remove the bowl and set to one side.
In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients: self raising flour, bicarb of soda and pinch of salt. Sieve the dry ingredients into the butter and egg mixture and then fold together gently with a spatula.
Next add the vanilla bean extract, the soaked dates and half of the liquid from the soaked dates (save the remaining half of the date liquid for the caramel sauce). Continue to fold the cake mixture with a spatula to fully mix with the dates and vanilla. The mixture will appear quite wet and be of a pourable consistency.
Transfer the cake mix to the lined cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling wire. Once fully cooled use a sharp serrated knife to divide the cake into three equal layers - take your time and move the knife around the cake as you cut.
To make the filling and salted caramel sauce:
Whip the double cream until soft peaks just about form. Do not over whisk! The cream should hold together but not be over clotted. Place the whipped cream in the fridge whilst the salted caramel sauce is prepared.
For the caramel sauce, place 100g coconut sugar (or soft brown sugar if preferred) and 50g butter into a small sauce pan. Place the pan on a low heat and stir until melted. Continue to heat the sugar and butter mixture until it just about boils and turns to a runny caramel, then remove from the heat. Take 1 tablespoon of the whipped double cream and stir this into the caramel. Next add one or two pinches of sea salt to taste. Set to one side - the caramel will slightly thicken as it cools but should remain of a pourable consistency for at least an hour.
Build the cake
Finally put together the cake. This doesn’t have to be perfect and will probably look better with drizzles and blobs of cream and caramel here and there.
First, place the bottom layer of your cake on a serving plate or cake stand. If you like, secure underneath with a small blob of cream. Use a spatula to spread an even layer of cream on the top of the first cake layer (use around ⅓ of the cream). Next scatter the portal bay popcorn over the cream and then drizzle over the salted caramel. Carefully position the middle layer of the cake over the cream and popcorn and continue to layer with more cream, popcorn and salted caramel. Position the top layer of the cake and finish off with the remaining cream, popcorn and good final drizzle of salted caramel.