Perfect Recipe

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares
Makes 64 (1-inch) cheesecake squares

Ingredients:

For crust:
3 1/2 oz graham crackers, crumbled (1cup)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling:
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-oz envelope, will be just about half an envelope)
1/4 cup whole milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup dulce de leche (12 1/2 oz) (recipe follows)

For glaze:
3 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), coarsely chopped
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Directions:

Make crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 sheets of foil (crisscrossed), leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.

Finely grind crackers with sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor. With motor running, add butter, blending until combined. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.

Make filling: Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Beat together cream cheese, eggs, salt, and gelatin mixture in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, then stir in dulce de leche gently but thoroughly. Pour filling over crust, smoothing top, then bake in a hot water bath (I was able to fit mine in a 9×13-inch baking pan) in oven until center is just set, about 45 minutes. Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours. Chill, covered, at least 6 hours.

Glaze cake within 2 hours of serving: Heat all glaze ingredients in a double boiler or a small metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, then pour over cheesecake, tilting baking pan to coat top evenly. Chill, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Lift cheesecake from pan using foil overhang and cut into 1-inch squares with a thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut. (Don’t skip this step! A clean knife is essential for uber-neat squares.)

Note: Cheesecake (without glaze) can be chilled up to 3 days.

Dulce de Leche (Milk Caramel)

Most of the world makes this by boiling the milk inside a closed can, but  according to the Carnation can label , is not recommended by them. This method works just as well.

Pour one can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk into top of double-boiler pan; cover. Place over boiling water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until thick and light caramel-colored.

Remove from heat. Whisk until smooth.

Brazilian Honey Bread
(96 individual breads)

Ingredients:
(if you need, use a “oz” conversion calculator on the internet)

490 g brown sugar
400 ml water
5 eggs (separated)
700 g all purpose flour
5 g ground cloves
5 g ground cinnamon
25 g chocolate powder
20 g baking soda
10 g baking powder
250 ml milk
300 ml honey

Syrup:

200 ml water
10 g brown sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
10 g cloves

Icing:

1.5 kg milk chocolate
1 kg semi-sweetened chocolate

Dulce de leche for the filling

Directions:

For the syrup, put all the ingredients in a saucepan in low heat, for about 15min. Drain it and let it cool.

Beat egg whites until it forms stiff and firm peaks, reserve.

Preheat oven 350°C. Butter and flour a 12 X 16inch pan, or use individual pans.

Mix with a whisk, the cold syrup, with the sifted flour, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, chocolate powder. Add the baking soda dissolved into the milk and the sifted baking soda. Add the egg yolks one by one and whisk well. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for approx. 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake come out clean. Let it cool. Pour the syrup over the cake. Cut the cake into squares.

For the icing, melt the chocolates in a microwave oven or in a double boiler and cover the breads. Use a fork to dip the bread. Place on aluminum foil to dry into the refrigerator.

Pound Cake with Pineapple and Dulce de Leche Filling

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
5 egg yolks
5 egg white s
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Filling:

300g dulce de leche

Filling 1:

1/2 chopped pineapple
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp butter
150g heavy cream

Topping and Filling 3:

250gr heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Grease two 8 inch Separate the eggs while they are still cold, and cover the whites and yolks with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming on the egg yolks and the whites from drying out. Let the yolks and whites reach room temperature before using (this will take about 30 minutes). Having the yolks and whites at room temperature will ensure that the eggs reach their full volume when beaten.

Into a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with the sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolks one by one and beat. Slowly add the flour, milk, vanilla and baking powder. In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy. Pour egg yolk mixture over whites, gently folding with a rubber spatula just until blended. Do not stir or beat. Divide the mixture evenly between two 8 inch greased round pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Loosen cakes from pans with an offset spatula, and unmold onto wire rack. Cool to room temperature.

Filling:
Bring pineapple, water and sugar to boil. Cook until gets clear and bright; remove from heat and cool. Sift the pineapple and reserve the syrup.

In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the condensed milk and butter. Beat with a whisk until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add the heavy cream. Let cool to room temperature.

Frosting:
In a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in sugar until peaks form. Make sure not to over-beat, cream will then become lumpy and butter-like.

Assembling the cake:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place a wire rack over it. Using a serrated knife, cut each cake in half horizontally. (If necessary, shave off any uneven pieces of cake with a serrated knife so that it is smooth and even on all sides.) Brush the tops of three layers each with some of the pineapple syrup. Place the bottom layer on a 9-inch round of cardboard and set it on the wire rack. Spread the dulce de leche filling evenly on top of the layer. Top with a second layer of cake. Spread the filling 1 evenly over it with some chopped pineapple. Top with the third layer and spread the filling 3(don’t use a lot because you’ll need some to cover the cake). Top with the fourth layer. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Spread the entire cake with the frosting. Led to the refrigerator until serving time.

Coconut Cake with Dulce de Leche Filling

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp coconut milk

Syrup:

2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp Malibu

Filling:

1/2 cup milk Dulce de leche

Glaze:

1 egg white
175g confectioners’ sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp Malibu
Grated coconut

Directions:

Cake:
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Lightly oil and flour the sides of two 9×2-inch round cake pans, tapping out any excess flour. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment.
In a large mixing bowl whisk the sugar with the butter until mixture is smooth. Continue mixing, and add the eggs one by one. Add the vanilla essence.In a separate, large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and baking powder. With a spoon, fold dry mixture into the egg mixture to combine completely, until mixture is smooth. Add the coconut milk, mixes until it is uniform and divide cake batter evenly between 2 cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes, or until they are slightly golden. Cool cakes for 15 minutes. Loosen cakes from pans with an offset spatula, and unmold onto wire rack. Cool to room temperature.

Syrup:
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the ingredients just under boiling point until the sugar it has dissolved. Let it cool. Brush the tops of the cakes with the syrup.

To Assemble the Cake:
Place the bottom layer on a 9-inch round of cardboard and set it on the wire rack. Spread the filling evenly on top of the layer, leaving 0,5-1cm of edge. Top with the second layer of cake. hill in the refrigerator while you prepare the glaze.

Glaze:
Beat the egg white until it forms peaks, and then add half of the sugar. When the mixture have grown a little, add the remaining sugar slowly and the others ingredients. Beat until it reaches a firm consistency of meringues. Remove the cake of the refrigerator. Spread the entire cake with the glaze and sprinkle some grated coconut. Led to the refrigerator until serving time.