Golden Gaytime cake part 3 – the masterclass

Firstly, I am overwhelmed by the sudden interest in the Golden Gaytime cake over the past week. I’m not sure how it happened but I’m extremely chuffed and feeling very…. gay.

It’s pretty safe to say that I will never make a cake that will capture the imagination of Australians like the Golden Gaytime cake. The ice cream is a national treasure and while no cake will never replicate the actual ice cream, it was about paying homage to my favourite ice cream of all time.

Back to the masterclass. When I first posted this recipe 18 months ago, I didn’t expect the interest in this recipe. With this interest comes a bit of nervousness about whether I got it right the first time round. So with the power of hindsight and the numerous questions and comments I’ve decided to share some tips on making the perfect Golden Gaytime cake.

Tip #1 : The caramel buttercream should be as firm, but still spreadable. However you do this is up to you, you can either add more icing sugar or if you’re absolutely desperate, put into the fridge for 20 minutes. If you’re like me and left it in for too long, just wait for it to ‘defrost’ and re-mix it with a wooden spoon or regular spoon.

Tip #2: For the Americans who don’t know what Top ‘n Fill caramel is, it’s basically caramel in a can. There are youtube videos on how to boil a can of condensed milk and turn that into caramel which I believe is exactly the same thing. When I first came up with the recipe, salted caramel spread, caramel in a jar wasn’t widely available in Australia. Now we’re in 2014 and you can get a decent jar for $5.99 at Woolworths, I think that is a better alternative to make a caramel buttercream. Otherwise you can make caramel from scratch, if you think you’re better than Nigella 🙂

Tip #2.1 : I sprinkled a bit of sea salt into the buttercream just to break down the sweetness. Not essential.

 

Tip #3 : chop the Malt O Milk biscuits as fine as you can! I’ve seen a few Golden Gaytime cakes where the cookie crumbling is a bit large. I know it seems like hard work guys, but the cookie crumbling is what makes this cake the Golden Gaytime cake so do it right!

Tip #4 (for For the Americans who don’t have access to malt biscuits / cookies): if you can access a honeycomb cookie, or a sweet cookie that is crumbly that will do. I did trawl through the walmart website and I think this biscuit could work: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lotus-Biscoff-Cookies-8.8-oz/10813607.

For the Australians who don’t want to use Malt o Milk biscuits, honey tiny teddies will also work. I just resisted using these as I didn’t want to see parts of teddies faces on my cake.

Tip #4: Coating the cake with cookie crumbling. People ask ‘how do you get the cookie crumble on the side’ and I answer ‘with great difficulty’. You need to be willing to get your hands dirty on this one. The great thing about the cookies is that it covers the blemishes of the frosting so don’t stress. Grab some pieces and plonk them on gently onto the cake. They will stick. At the end I like to get the fine biscuit crumbs and ‘throw’ them at the sides, I hope that makes sense. Let me know and I’ll do a video haha.

Tip #5: Enjoy. People will go crazy over this cake. I rebaked the cake last night as I haven’t done it in a while, and luckily I still got it 🙂

 

 

,