Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake!

A light toffee marbled sponge cake with rich dulce de leche fresh cream frosting.

This Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake is a delectable bite with every slice and perfectly lit to grace any celebration. In this case, a precious 21st birthday milestone! 

A Celebration Cake!

I made this Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake to celebrate the coming of age for Beautiful, Daughter No. 2. It is amazing how time flies. Seems like she was a kid just yesterday. 

Coming of age ❤️

Why a Light It Up Dulce de Leche Cake? Because my birthday gal is a shining light ❤️❤️ Blessed 21st birthday our Beautiful shining light 🥰🥰 ! The world is your stage; follow that rainbow and go … Light up the World! 

WATCH HOW TO MAKE THIS

If you like this recipe tutorial and would like to see more, subscribe to my channel here. 

And if you like this Light It Up Dulce de Leche Cake, you might also enjoy my other birthday cake recipes.

• Whisky Chocolate Cake
• Coffee Doorstop Cake
  
• Blessings Carrot Cake
• Lana Chocolate Cake
• Sweet Valentine Sakura Cheesecake
• Orange Chocolate Peanut Butter Burnt Cheesecake
• Mie Goreng Cake
• Lana Chocolate Cake
• Dinosaur Volcano Cake

Notes

#1 Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche is not easily available where I am – so when daughter wanted this flavor for her birthday, I decided to make my own. And it can be easily done too. Simply boil a can of condensed milk for 2 1/2 hours on low heat and the milk will caramelize into a beautiful thick dulce de leche sauce.

Easy home-made dulce de leche

I like to cook the can in the rice cooker as I don’t need to watch the fire. You can also cook it on the stove  or use a slow cooker. Just make sure the can (with paper peeled off) is completely submerged in water and boiled on low heat. *Do cool the can completely before opening as there will be a lot of heat trapped inside so be careful to cool completely and not get scalded* 

#2 Sponge cake tips

Don’t over-whip the egg whites. They should be whipped to medium firm peaks with a light curl. 

Soft firm peaks, with a beautiful curl

Always whisk gently and slowly so as not to deflate the air built up in the batter. Mix the yolk mixture into the meringue until just combined, do not over-mix.

Beautifully risen, if only it stopped here …

Always bake in a pre-heated oven. I baked at the middle rack of the oven with a water bath. The water bath creates steam which helps the cake to rise and gives it a wonderful fluffiness. The cake turned out really soft and fluffy but there were some cracks on top (small issue as this would be levelled and covered with frosting) because the heat in my oven may be uneven and hotter on top. I would probably bake at a lower rack next time for a more even and level top. You would want to test out to see which rack level bakes best for your oven temperature. 

Still super soft … but cracked as top heat was too much 

Do not open the oven door to check the cake until towards the end when the baking is almost complete. Otherwise run the risk that the cake may sink in the middle due to the temperature change when the oven is opened.

My light and fluffy sponge

I like to use a wooden spoon to keep the oven door slightly ajar once the heat is off to let the cake sit for 10 min before I take it out of the oven. This is to prevent the cake collapsing from the sudden change in temperature. Once removed form the oven, remove from the tin immediately and cool completely.

#3 Light it up decor

This Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake would be a totally different cake without the light decor. It is the light that makes this truly a celebration cake.

The Light is meant to celebrate the coming of age;  the stepping into a new season; celebrating life, vitality, hope, positivity, knowledge, wisdom, transition, change – all at once. Therefore I chose a pretty neon purple bottle light. It had a small noose which allowed me to put through a bent wooden stick which then firmly anchored the bottle light into the cake at a nice 45’ angle.  

Pretty shiny light, my birthday gal ..

The key is to make sure the stick is firmly secured to the light which I did by using a nicely patterned washi tape. The only thing left to do is to camouflage the stick. You could also use washi tape to conceal the stick but I chose small white marshmallows as I wanted only edibles to come in contact with the cake.

Go & Light up the World!

Last but not least, decorate as you like with more marshmallows & small chocolate chunks and voila, the Light it Up Dulce de Leche cake is all ready to be lit for the celebration! 

#4 Storage

Store this Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake like any sponge or chiffon cake with fresh cream frosting, always chilled in the refrigerator. It should keep well for 3-4 days stored airtight and chilled. 

Perfectly lit for any celebration

Did you make this? I would love to know how it turned out. Tell me more 😊  Please leave me a comment or tag me on Instagram or Facebook hashtag #thesugarcrumble 

Print Recipe

Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake

A light toffee marbled sponge cake with rich dulce de leche fresh cream frosting. A delectable bite with every slice and perfectly lit to grace any celebration!

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time1 hour hr

Chilling time1 hour hr

Total Time3 hours hrs

Course: Celebration cake

Cuisine: Dessert

Keyword: Dulce de Leche, Sponge cake

Servings: 1 6 inch round cake

Author: Kai

Ingredients

Dulce de leche

• 1 can low fat condensed milk (392g)

Cake

*Yolk mixture

• 60 g cake flour (sifted)
• 45 g oil (warm)
• 5 yolks
• 50 g milk

*Meringue

• 5 egg whites
• 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 50 g sugar ~3 tbsp

*Dulce de leche

• 5 g oil ~ 1/2 tbsp
• 2 tbsp dulce de leche
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Fresh cream frosting

• 600 ml heavy cream
• 3 tbsp dulce de leche
• 1/3 cup white chocolate
• 4-5 lotus biscuits

Cake decor

• Bottle light
• Wooden skewer
• Washi tape
• Small marshmallows
• Chocolate (cut into small chunks)

Instructions

Dulce de Leche sauce

• Boil a can of condensed milk for 2 1/2 hours (I like to do this in my rice cooker) to get a beautiful dulce de leche sauce. Set aside to cool and for use later.

Sponge cake

• Separate 5 eggs. Set aside to come to room temperature.
• Sift the flour. Warm the oil for 45 sec in the microwave and mix in with the flour. Then mix in the yolks and finally the milk. Whisk till the batter is smooth and runny. set aside and whisk the meringue.
• Whisk the whites with the cream of tartar until foamy. Then gradually whisk in the sugar on low speed (meringue is more stable this way) until medium firm peaks. Add in 1/4 of the meringue into the yolk mixture and whisk gently to loosen it up. Once combined, add the yolk mixture to the remaining meringue together with the vanilla extract. Whisk gently until well combined. *Do not overmix or the meringue is willl be deflated *
• Microwave 2 tbsp dulce de leche and 1/2 tbsp oil for 30 sec and mix till combined. Add the dulce de leche mixture to half of the batter and mix gently till the batter is a nice even dulce de leche color.
• Line the sides and base of a 6 inch round tin with parchment. Layer in the two batters into the tin for nice marbling. Tap the tin a few tables on the table top and run through with a skewer to remove air bubbles. Bake @130C with water bath for 1 hour. Leave in the oven (turned off) with door ajar for 10 minutes before taking out.
• Once taken out of the oven, remove from the tin immediately and set aside to cool completely

Dulce de Leche Frosting

• Add 3 tbsp dulce de Leche sauce to 1/3 cup of white chocolate chips. Microwave in 30sec burst to melt the chocolate and stir till shiny and fully combined. Set aside to cool.
• Whisk 600ml heavy cream until stiff peaks. Loosen the dulce de leche with a little cream and add 80% of the mixture to the whipped cream. Whisk to combine. Once combined, taste here to see if you prefer more sweetness. Add more dulce de leche as appropriate to the frosting to level up to your preferred sweetness. 

Assembly

• Slice the sponge cake into 3 even layers and frost each layer with the dulce de leche frosting and a layer of crushed lotus biscuits. Finish the top and sides with frosting; remove any excess, then let it set in the fridge for 1 hour. After the crumb coat has set, frost the cake fully. (*Fresh cream frosting is a lot softer than butter cream and therefore I went with the rustic swirl instead of smooth straight sides.) Once you have finished frosting let the cake chill in the fridge and make the light decor.

Light decor

• Skewer the noose of the bottle light with a slightly bent wooden stick. Secure the stick well with washi tape. Leaving about 2 - 3 inches at the end, camouflage the stick with small marshmallows. Before putting in the light, pipe a simple border at the base. As the final touches, put in the light and decorate the top with more marshmallows and small cuts of chocolate. Now, switch it on serve it lit for the birthday gal. Enjoy 😊

Video

Notes

If you like this recipe tutorial and would like to see more, subscribe to my channel here.

 

#1 Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche is not easily available where I am - so when daughter wanted this flavor for her birthday, I decided to make my own. And it can be easily done too. Simply boil a can of condensed milk for 2 1/2 hours on low heat and the milk will caramelize into a beautiful thick dulce de leche sauce.

I like to cook the can in the rice cooker as I don’t need to watch the fire. You can also cook it on the stove  or use a slow cooker. Just make sure the can (with paper peeled off) is completely submerged in water and boiled on low heat. *Do cool the can completely before opening as there will be a lot of heat trapped inside so be careful to cool completely and not get scalded*

 

#2 Sponge cake tips

Don’t over-whip the egg whites. They should be whipped to medium firm peaks with a light curl. 

Always whisk gently and slowly so as not to deflate the air built up in the batter. Mix the yolk mixture into the meringue until just combined, do not over-mix.

Always bake in a pre-heated oven. I baked at the middle rack of the oven with a water bath. The water bath creates steam which helps the cake to rise and gives it a wonderful fluffiness. The cake turned out really soft and fluffy but there were some cracks on top (small issue as this would be levelled and covered with frosting) because the heat in my oven may be uneven and hotter on top. I would probably bake at a lower rack next time for a more even and level top. You would want to test out to see which rack level bakes best for your oven temperature. 

Do not open the oven door to check the cake until towards the end when the baking is almost complete. Otherwise run the risk that the cake may sink in the middle due to the temperature change when the oven is opened. I like to use a wooden spoon to keep the oven door slightly ajar once the heat is off to let the cake sit for 10 min before I take it out of the oven. This is to prevent the cake collapsing from the sudden change in temperature. Once removed form the oven, remove from the tin immediately and cool completely.

 

#3 Light it up decor

This Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake would be a totally different cake without the light decor. It is the light that makes this a truly celebration cake.

The Light is meant to celebrate the coming of age;  the stepping into a new season ; celebrating life, vitality, hope, positivity, knowledge, wisdom, transition, change - all at once. Therefore I chose a pretty neon purple bottle light. It had a small noose which allowed me to put through a bent wooden stick which then firmly anchored the bottle light into the cake at a nice 45’ angle. 

The key is to make sure the stick is firmly secured to the light which I did by using a nicely patterned washi tape. The only thing left to do is to camouflage the stick. You could also use washi tape to conceal the stick but I chose small white marshmallows as I wanted only edibles to come in contact with the cake.

Last but not least, decorate as you like with more marshmallows & small chocolate chunks and voila, the Light it Up Dulce de Leche cake is all ready to be lit for the celebration!

 

#4 Storage

Store this Light it Up Dulce de Leche Cake like any sponge or chiffon cake with fresh cream frosting, always chilled in the refrigerator. It should keep well for 3-4 days stored airtight and chilled.