If cake could talk, then I guess this monstrous volcano of messy ganache and sticky caramel might just give away the level of stress I was experiencing while trying to bring this misguided explosion to life. It wasn’t really meant to look like this. I had a plan. My plan didn’t look like this. My plan was neater. The caramel sauce would drizzle evenly down the sides, like it does for all of those amazing bakers with fabulously successful blogs. The ganache was going to be smooth and sleek, not lumpy after the second failed attempt (!) My salted caramel Tim Tam pops were going to be deliciously dipped into the perfectly textured caramel sauce.
Don’t even talk to me about caramel. This oozy, sticky toffee you see before you was my fourth…yes fourth attempt of the day. I had prematurely boasted to my family that I had finally conquered the caramel monster, after previously experiencing a run of successful attempts using a new Donna Hay recipe. I couldn’t quite believe it when my first batch crystallised, the second batch crystallised, the third batch (watched like a hawk) crystallised, and then finally my fourth attempt seemed to work……until I tried to drizzle it beautifully over the top of the cake and discovered to my horror that it was toffee!!! Arrgh!
You may sense that I was having a wild ride in the kitchen that day. This was one of three cakes I was making, and I was running behind schedule. Thankfully, when it was all said and done, I was able to calm down and accept my new look cake. While it was far from what I had envisioned, I kinda liked the very rustic, intense appearance of the cake and realised it would definitely make an impact upon arrival at the party. If you are after a cake with a WOW factor, then I guess my Chocolate, Caramel, Bourbon Snickers cake with Salted caramel Tim Tam pops hits the spot! YUMO.
