Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

From EasyEats. com via Pinterest

(I didn't take this picture but I wish I had!)

• Makes: One 9-inch cake
• Prep time: 15 min
• Cook time: 1 hr 30 min

• 14 ounces high-quality chocolate
• 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 6 eggs or equivalent egg replacement
• ½ cup superfine sugar
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup heavy cream or nondairy creamer
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split and beans scraped into a bowl

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper cut to fit the bottom of the pan. Set the prepared pan inside a 12-inch pan. In a double boiler, heat chocolate and 7 tablespoons butter until fully melted. Stir until smooth. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, the superfine sugar, dark brown sugar, ¼ cup light brown sugar and the vanilla until fully incorporated. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg mixture; whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared 9-inch pan. Carefully fill the larger pan with water until it reaches about halfway up the side of the smaller pan. Tightly cover with aluminum foil.
3. Bake until top of cake is no longer sticky to the touch, about 90 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a plate to cool completely.
4. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining ½ cup light brown sugar, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the syrup, ½ cup cream and the salt and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil uncovered until the sauce is very thick and deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the remaining ½ cup cream and return to a boil, stirring constantly until the mixture is perfectly smooth. Stir in the vanilla beans. Pour sauce into a heatproof glass jar; refrigerate until just cool (about 2 hours) and spread a thick layer over the cake. Refrigerate the cake until fully cool, about another hour.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

1 SLICE: CALORIES 465; FAT 28.4 g (sat 16.6 g, mono 8.9 g, poly 1.4 g); PROTEIN 5.0 g; CARBS 60.7 g; FIBER 2.0 g; CHOLEST 143.0 mg; IRON 1.7 mg; SODIUM 256 mg; CALCIUM 55 mg

MY NOTES: I made this after we had a French style flour less chocolate cake the last time we went to the beach. The whole family just melted when we ate it. This recipe didn't disappoint. It's time consuming. And next time I will start the caramel sauce while the cake is cooling.