"Momofuku Style" S'mores Layer Cake with Chocolate Fudge Cake, Malted Chocolate Cake Soak, Malted Fudge Sauce, Graham Ganache, Graham Cracker + Chocolate Milk Crumbs, Charred Marshmallows, & Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

"Momofuku Style" S'mores Layer Cake with Chocolate Fudge Cake, Malted Cake Soak, Malted Fudge Sauce, Graham Ganache, Graham Cracker + Chocolate Milk Crumbs, Charred Marshmallows, & Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

Hi. Let's all be best friends. 

Okay? Why, you ask, I know. Well, 

Please... just please.

Now, that we got that clear. It's because I don't want to type a lengthy description of today's post. 

That's so lazy of me right? BUTTTT, there's so many components. Wordless Wednesday Monday.

1. Chocolate Fudge Cake 

2. Malted Chocolate Cake Soak

3. Malted Fudge Sauce

4. Graham Ganache

5. Graham Cracker + Chocolate Milk Crumbs

6. Charred Marshmallows

7. Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

That's it. NBD (no big deal). Amirite (am I right)? Right. Make this for everyone you know, and you'll have more best friends than Kate Hudson. She's so likable right? Love her. She has to have a lot of best friends, I just know it. Anyway, perfect for the 4th of July... it screams "Americana". 'Merica, f**k yeah!! Enjoy :)

P.S. Are there any fellow bloggers out there that want to do a guest post? I would love to have some people write recipes for my blog, or vice-versa! Comment below if you would like too!!

For the Malted Chocolate Fudge Sauce:

2oz Bittersweet Chocolate, Chopped

1C Chocolate Malt Ovaltine Powder

1t Sorghum Molasses

¼t Salt

2T Corn Syrup

¼C Sugar

½C Heavy Cream

For the Graham Cracker Milk Crumbs:

1 Sleeve of Graham Crackers, Roughly Crunched & Crumbled

½C Sugar

¼C Milk Powder

½tSalt

7T Melted Butter

  

For the Chocolate Milk Crumbs:

2/3C AP Flour

1t Cornstarch

½C Sugar

2/3C Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder 

1t Salt

6T Melted Butter

For the Chocolate Fudge Cake:

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

1 ½C Sugar

3 Eggs

½C Buttermilk

¼C Canola Oil

1t Vanilla Extract

3T Malted Chocolate Fudge Sauce (already prepared)

1 ¼C Cake Flour

½C Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder

1 ½t Baking Powder + Salt

     

For the Malted Chocolate Cake Soak:

¼C Milk

2T Malted Chocolate Ovaltine Powder

For the Graham Ganache:

1 ½C Graham Cracker Crumbs

¼C Milk Powder

2T Sugar

1t Salt (plus an extra pinch)

4T Melted Butter

¼C Heavy Cream

2/3C Milk (a little more may be needed for texture)

For the Toasted Marshmallow Frosting:

25 Large White Marshmallows, Toasted or Charred

1C Confectioners’ Sugar, Sifted

2 Sticks of Salted Butter, Room Temperature

1t Vanilla Extract

1 Jar of Marshmallow Crème

Directions:

1. For the Malted Chocolate Fudge Sauce: Combine the chocolate, Ovaltine powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the corn syrup, molasses, sugar, and heavy cream in a saucepan and stir occasionally while bringing to a boil over high heat. The moment it boils, pour it into the bowl containing the chocolate. Let it sit for a minute. Slowly begin to whisk the mixture, and then increase the vigor of your whisking, every 30 seconds, until it is glossy and silky-smooth. Set this aside until ready to use.

2. For the Graham Cracker Milk Crumbs: Preheat the oven to 275 degrees and line a pan with a Silpat, and set it aside. Pour the sleeve of graham crackers into a bowl and crush them with your hands until they are quarter of the original size. Add the milk powder, sugar, and salt, and then toss to mix. Add the butter and toss to coat. This will bind the ingredients together. Spread the clusters onto the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently. Cool completely.

3. For the Chocolate Crumbs: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and line a pan with a Silpat, and set it aside. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar, and salt, and then toss to mix. Add the butter and toss to coat. This will bind the ingredients together. Spread the clusters onto the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently (breaking them up gently throughout the cooking process). Cool completely. They will harden as they sit.

4. For the Chocolate Fudge Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and then prepare your three cake pans by lining them with parchment paper and spraying them with Pam. (either 8 or 9inch pans will work here, as long as you have a 6inch cake ring). Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitter with the paddle attachment and cream them together on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the side of the bowl, add in the eggs, and mix on medium-high heat for 2-3 more minutes. Scrape down the sides once more. On low speed, stream in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Increase to medium-high speed and paddle for 5 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy mixture, and completely homogenous. Stop and scrape down again. Add the fudge sauce and mix on low speed until incorporated. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. On low speed, add the flour in and gently mix it until your batter comes together, about 1 minute. Scrape down and mix once again for 30 seconds to 1 minutes until the little lumps of flour are broken down. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans, evenly. Bake each layer for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center runs clean. Remove the cake pans from the oven and let them cool completely to room temperature (on a cooling rack). Once they have cooled, you need to invert them out of the pan onto a silpat or cutting board. Next, spray your 6inch cake ring with Pam and use it to cut out the cake center (think of it like a large cookie cutter). Repeat with the other cakes, you should have three perfectly round and trimmed cakes (there will be a lot of leftover cake, which means you get to share it or snack on them while you’re decorating). After cutting them, you need to refrigerate them overnight or partially freeze them for a few hours, so that they will be firm in consistency and will hold their shape when assembling the cake.

5. For the Malted Chocolate Cake Soak: Whisk together the milk and Ovaltine until Smooth. Brush this mixture over the cake layers to soak and make it extremely moist.

6. For the Graham Ganache: Toss the graham crumbs, milk powder, sugar, and salt with your hands in a bowl to evenly distribute the ingredients. Whisk the butter and heavy cream together. Add to the dry ingredients and distribute. Place the small clusters into a food processor. Pour the milk into the food processor, along with salt, and puree on medium speed until whipped and smooth. It will take anywhere from 1-5 minutes, depending on how good your machine is. Scrape down the sides to make sure it is completely homogenous. Layer this ganache immediately into the cake layers.

7. For the Toasted Marshmallow Frosting: Place marshmallows on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Place on lower rack of oven, and broil marshmallows until nice and brown on top, between 30-60 seconds. Remove pan from oven and gently turn the marshmallows over, and broil until they are golden brown (be sure to keep an eye on them, they burn very quickly). In an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter and icing sugar on low until blended, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and mix on med-high for about 3 minutes. Add marshmallow cream and toasted marshmallows, and mix on lowest setting for about 1 minute. Char some extra marshmallows to layer in between the layers of cake.

8. Assembling the Cake:This cake could easily be assembled any which way you like, but I decided to make it based off of the famous technique used by Momofuku Milk Bar. This requires a 6inch cake ring, strips of acetate, and pastry frosting bags. Since you have already cut the three cake layers with the 6inch cake ring, those no longer need to be trimmed. But, you will need to prep the cake ring for perfect layering. Place the cake ring onto your serving plate and line it with the acetate. Put one of the layers of cake into the ring; brush on some of the Ovaltine milk mixture (soak it good). Spread some of the graham ganache in an even layer. Sprinkle about 1C each of the prepared graham cracker and chocolate milk crumbs over the gooey butter topping, make sure to gently press the crumbs into the ganache, so the layers will mesh together (or a little more or a little less of the milk crumbs, it doesn’t have to be exact). Either using a pastry frosting bag or a large rubber spatula, add a third of the toasted marshmallow frosting on top of the milk crumbs and smooth it out over the crumbs until they are all completely covered. Top with some charred marshmallows as well. Garnish the frosting with a drizzle of malted chocolate fudge sauce. Repeat this layering process until all the ingredients have been used (you should have 3 chocolate fudge cake layers, 3 layers of milk crumbs, and 3 layers of graham ganache, toasted marshmallow frosting, and charred marshmallows). You can garnish the cake any way you like, but I just made a mound of more crumbs & fudge sauce drizzle. Transfer the tall, layered, assembled cake into the freezer and let it chill for 12 hours (keep the cake in the cake ring and lined with the acetate for the freezing process). At least 3 hours before you want to serve the cake, remove it from the freezer and pop it out of the ring and gently peel off the acetate liner. Let it defrost in the refrigerator for at least four hours. Slice the cake into wedges and serve immediately.

"Apple Pie" Caramel Apples Dipped in Homemade Vanilla Bean-Bourbon Caramel, Rolled in Cinnamon Sugar, Dunked in Vanilla Bean White Chocolate & a Homemade Milk Crumb Topping

"Apple Pie" Caramel Apples Dipped in Homemade Vanilla Bean-Bourbon Caramel,
Rolled in Cinnamon Sugar, Dunked in Vanilla Bean White Chocolate & a Homemade Milk Crumb Topping

I always loved making caramel apples as a kid. Of course, we did it the easy way... either melting store-bough caramels with a little cream or even buying those sheets of caramel that you just wrapped the apple in. And ya know, they were always good to us, we couldn't ever tell the difference. But, now that I've gotten older, I'm all about making everything from scratch and I scoff at the idea of buying caramel, when it is so delicious when you brew it up on your own. And you can add flavors to it that make it so wonderfully amazing. I decided to make a Vanilla Bean-Bourbon Caramel as the base for all of our apples, and then I went crazy with the toppings!! I eventually came up with the idea of making an "apple pie" inspired caramel apple. What's more autumn-y + cozy than apple pie people?? I can't think of anything else. So, I began to brainstorm about how to make this lonely caramel apple into a slice of apple pie. I knew I would need a cinnamon-sugar rolling mixture that would mimic the filling used in a typical pie (and you could also use an apple pie spice or any other spices to bump up the flavor as well). I got a little stuck with how I could make a crust-like component. I finally landed on using a Homemade Milk Crumb Topping, which I used on my Spiced Carrot Cake Doughnuts with Liquid Cheesecake Filling, Vanilla Glaze, White Chocolate Coating, & Milk Crumb Topping, and it was just the perfect addition. It really does taste like that buttery pie crust that we have all grown to love since we were kids. At this point, I thought that I had all the components nailed down, but I couldn't stop thinking about how I wanted to make this caramel apple "a la mode". So, I made a Vanilla Bean White Chocolate to act like the ice cream on top of a warm slice of pie. The best idea I ever had... trust me. Decorating is so much fun and you can make them any way you like, just let your creativity flow!! Enjoy :)

For the Vanilla Bean-Bourbon Caramel:

2C Granulated Sugar

1C Heavy Cream

¾C Bourbon

½C Light Corn Syrup

4T Unsalted Butter

2t Vanilla

1-2 Vanilla Beans, Split & Scraped for Seeds

½t Salt (plus extra fleur de sel for sprinkling on the caramel after dipping, this is optional)

8-10 Small/Medium Apples, Scrubbed & Dried & Stems Removed (I like tart Granny Smith)

8-10 Sticks, For the Apples

For the Milk Crumb Topping:

1 ½C Milk Powder

½C AP Flour

¼C Cornstarch & Sugar

½t Salt

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Melted

6oz White Chocolate, Melted

For the Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture:

½C Sugar

2T Brown Sugar

1t Cinnamon (or Apple Pie Spice can be substituted, as well as the addition of any other spices)

For the Vanilla Bean White Chocolate:

12oz White Chocolate Chips

1-2 Vanilla Beans, Split & Scraped for Seeds (depending on how much you like vanilla)

Directions:

1. Remove the stems from the apples and place a stick inside each of them. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and lightly spray with Pam. Place the apples into the refrigerator and chill the apples for at least an hour, this way the caramel will hold onto the apple better.

2. For the Milk Crumb Topping: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Whisk to combine 1C Milk Powder with the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter and use a spatula to toss the mixture until small clusters form. Spread these clusters onto your parchment covered baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Add the remaining ½C of Milk Powder and toss, and then crush the large clusters with a fork. Pour the 6oz of melted white chocolate over the crumbs and t oss until large crumbs form again. Place the crumbs in the refrigerator or freezer to let the white chocolate harden. If the crumbs are too large, crush with a fork or spin them briefly in a food processor. Pour the crumbs into a bowl to dip the caramel apples into later.

3. For the Vanilla Bean-Bourbon Caramel Apples: In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cream, bourbon, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, vanilla bean seeds and salt. Heat over medium high heat, stirring until combined and bring to a boil. Attach a candy thermometer to the side and cook without stirring until temperature reaches 245 degrees F. If the mixture starts bubbling up at first (it may because of the cream, do NOT take your eyes off of it), stir a bit with a pastry brush and reduce heat until it's a bit more caramel in color. The entire caramel process took me about 20-25 minutes, but may be a bit longer or shorter depending on your heat level and pan, so watch carefully. Once it reaches 245 degrees, remove from the heat. Keeping the candy thermometer in the caramel, bring the temperature down to 200 degrees, and then immediately dip apples into the caramel, let the excess caramel drip off, flip them upside down for a few seconds and twirl them around to keep the bottoms flat. You can also scrape off any excess caramel with a knife or spoon, so that you won’t have a pool of caramel on your plate (you can dip them in sprinkles or chocolate or whatever if you like at this time, but I like to do them in multiple layers). Place on wax paper. Let sit in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. For the Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture: In a small, deep bowl, mix together the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon until well incorporated. Once the apples have been dipped into the caramel, immediately roll them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place them into the refrigerator to harden for the next layer.

5. For the Vanilla Bean White Chocolate: I n a small bowl, melt the white chocolate in a microwave or over a bowl of simmering water. If using the microwave, only heat for 20-second intervals, stirring in between each. Once melted, stir in vanilla seeds. Keep warm & melted until all the caramel apples have been dipped in them. Remove the caramel apples, once again, from the refrigerator, and submerge them into the vanilla bean white chocolate (I did mine about ½ to ¾ of the way up). Immediately dip the white chocolate covered-caramel apples into the milk crumb topping.

6. Let the layers of caramel, chocolate, and toppings firm up before enjoying.

Birthday Cake Batter Cookies n' Cream Ice Cream

Birthday Cake Batter Cookies n' Cream Ice Cream

Another day... another ice cream recipe. Sadly, Summer is officially coming to a close. Yes, it's going to start to get cold, but with Autumn comes football games, Soup Sunday, movie nights & date nights, bonfires, pumpkin, apple cider, etc. So, in celebration of this hot weather, this will probably be one of the last ice cream recipes I make for a while... well, besides the occasional fall-themed custard. Anyway, I used to hate anything cake batter flavored, but suddenly it has intrigued me, and now I love it. At the beginning of the Summer, we actually make a cake batter ice cream that we just fell in love with. Well, when I saw the new Birthday Cake Oreo's at the grocery store, I need I just had to make a birthday cake flavored-cookies n' cream ice cream. It's a homemade birthday cake base, yep... you heard me right, no cake box mix here. And then it is filled with big ole' chunks of Birthday Cake Oreo's and lots of rainbow sprinkles. And why is it pink you ask? Well because I just felt like it. I mean, pink makes every thing better. But, feel free to discard the food dye and leave it plain... or you could dye it your favorite color. This ice cream is thick, smooth, and utterly creamy. And I put a whole bunch of Oreo's in there for good measure. Also, I personally like to wait a day or so before I eat the ice cream, so that the Oreo's soften a touch. But, that's really up to you!! Enjoy :)

That's one crazy concoction...

For the Cake Batter Cookies & Cream Ice Cream:

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Melted & Cooled Slightly

2 ½C Heavy Cream

½C Milk

6 Egg Yolks

1C Sugar

2T Dry Milk Powder & AP Flour, Sifted

½t Salt (heaping… or just a tad bit more to taste)

1 ½t Vanilla

¼t Almond Extract (scant… or a little less)

1T Vanilla Bean Rum (or any kind of infused booze, preferably clear)

25 Birthday Cake Oreos, Roughly Chopped

½C Rainbow Sprinkles

Any Food Coloring, Optional (I chose pink because it’s pretty)

Directions:

1. For the Custard Base: In a saucepan, bring the cream and milk to a simmer. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, sifted dry milk powder & AP Flour, and salt until fluffy. Slowly whisk in the melted butter. Once combined, gradually and slowly into the simmering heavy cream-milk mixture. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, until thickened (it should coat the back of a spoon). Strain the custard into a bowl that is placed into an ice bath. Stir in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and vanilla bean rum. Cool the custard base until completely chilled. If you are going to add in food coloring, this is the time. Whisk in as many drops of food coloring into the chilled custard base until you have reached your desired color. Once you have reached your desired color, pour this chilled custard base into the ice cream maker.   

2.  Once the mixture is chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Chop the Birthday Cake Oreos into small chunks. As soon as the mixture is done churning, transfer to a bowl or airtight container and stir in the chopped Oreos and the rainbow sprinkles (layer some chopped Oreos and sprinkles throughout). Store in the freezer until firm.  

Spiced Carrot Cake Doughnuts with Liquid Cheesecake Filling, Vanilla Glaze, White Chocolate Coating, & Milk Crumb Topping

I love love love to make doughnuts. Even though it's a process, they are just so fun to make. I have been on a red velvet kick recently, well let's be honest, my entire life. So why not switch it up a bit and make some carrot cake doughnuts? I have always preferred yeast doughnuts because they are just buttery and light & fluffy. But this time, I decided to go with a cake version. The batter consists of all the typical cake doughnut ingredients, but I have added cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, buttermilk, orange zest, brown butter, and finely shredded carrots. I used a biscuit cutter and made them into larger round, like doughnut holes on steroids. After I fried them suckers up until they were brown & crispy, I let them cool enough to fill them. The filling is called "liquid cheesecake" because it literally is cheesecake... in liquid form. I just put this chilled cheesecake into a piping bag and stuffed it into the center. After they have been filled, I coated them in a classic vanilla glaze. Once the vanilla glaze has set, dip the glazed doughnuts into melted white chocolate, and then immediately dunk them into the homemade milk crumb topping. Both the liquid cheesecake and milk crumb topping comes from Momofuku Milk Bar's Carrot Cake Truffles. The milk crumb topping tastes like cereal + graham cracker crumbs + everything else delicious and sweet. Like most desserts I make, each one has about a million components, but they are all just toooooo good. Oh and just a hint to make things a little easier on yourself, I pre-made the liquid cheesecake and milk crumb topping the night before so I could just assemble them once I had fried them! We actually snatched up all these doughnuts before I could even cut into the center to take a picture of the liquid cheesecake filling, bummer (sorry guys). But, maybe that's just an excuse to make these again?! I think so!! Enjoy y'all :)

Spiced Carrot Cake Doughnuts All Lined up

Spiced Carrot Cake Doughnuts with Liquid Cheesecake Filling with Vanilla Glaze,
White Chocolate Coating, & Milk Crumb Topping

yummy white chocolate + milk crumb topping

these are sooo delicious :)

For the Spiced Carrot Cake Doughnuts:

3 ½C AP Flour

2/3C Sugar

2t Cinnamon

½t Nutmeg

½t Ground Ginger

2 ½t Baking Powder

1t Salt

¾t Baking Soda

1 Egg + 1 Egg White

1C Buttermilk

1t-1T Fresh Orange Zest

4T Unsalted Butter, Melted & Browned

1C Carrots, Finely Shredded

Canola Oil, For Frying 

For the Liquid Cheesecake Filling:

2 8oz Packages of Cream Cheese, Room Temperature

1 ½C Sugar

2T Cornstarch

1t Salt

4T Milk

2 Eggs 

For the Glaze:

3C Confectioners’ Sugar

½C Milk

½t Vanilla & Salt

 

For the Milk Crumb Topping:

1 ½C Milk Powder

½C AP Flour

¼C Cornstarch & Sugar

½t Salt

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Melted

6oz White Chocolate, Melted

Directions:

1. To Make the Carrot Cake Doughnuts: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 tbsp. nutmeg, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In a bowl, whisk together egg and egg white until frothy. Whisk in buttermilk and butter. Stir buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients to form dough. Transfer dough to a floured surface; gently roll to 1/2" thickness. Using a floured 3 1/4" round cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Gather dough scraps, knead briefly to form a ball and flatten and cut out more rounds. Repeat until all dough is used. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out center of each round. Chill doughnuts and holes for 30 minutes. Pour oil into a deep fryer and heat over medium-high heat until a thermometer reads 350°. Working in small batches, fry doughnuts and holes, turning, until golden brown, 3–4 minutes on each side for doughnuts and 2–3 minutes for holes. Using tongs, transfer doughnuts to a wire rack to drain.
2. For the Liquid Cheesecake Filling: Set the oven to 300 degrees. Beat the cream cheese in a bowl with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and mix until the sugar has been incorporated. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch, salt, milk, and eggs, and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Beat this mixture into the cream cheese and beat for 3 minutes. Place the liquid cheesecake in an ovenproof bowl. Place the bowl into another ovenproof pan and fill with enough boiling water to come up halfway up the sides of the liquid cheesecake. Bake the cheesecake in this water bath for 15 minutes. Remove the cheesecake bowl from the water and let it cool. Once it has cooled, pipe or stuff the cheesecake filling into the center of the carrot cake doughnut (making sure not to overstuff them).
3. For the Glaze: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until completely smooth. One by one, dip the doughnuts into the glaze until halfway submerged. Remove from the glaze, and then turn right side up on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (to catch extra glaze). Let the glaze harden completely before adding the melted white chocolate and milk crumb topping.
4. For the Milk Crumb Topping: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Whisk to combine 1C Milk Powder with the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter and use a spatula to toss the mixture until small clusters form. Spread these clusters onto your parchment covered baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Add the remaining ½C of Milk Powder and toss, and then crush the large clusters with a fork. Pour the 6oz of melted white chocolate over the crumbs and toss until large crumbs form again. Place the crumbs in the refrigerator or freezer to let the white chocolate harden. If the crumbs are too large, crush with a fork or spin them briefly in a food processor.  Keep cold until ready to top the doughnuts.
5. Garnishing the Doughnuts: Melt the 12oz of remaining white chocolate until smooth. Dip the tops of the glazed doughnuts into the melted white chocolate, so that there’s a smooth white chocolate topping. While still melted, dip the white chocolate covered, dipped doughnuts into the milk crumb topping, so that there’s a heavy coating of the crumbs on top.

source: carrot cake truffles. nutmeg doughnuts.