No-bake vanilla and caramel cake

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Today I want to share a simple dessert that will work great both on a festive table and as a treat to serve alongside an afternoon tea. This time we'll prepare a no-bake vanilla and caramel cake, decorated with a fluffy layer of whipped cream.

 

Pudding filling is smooth, with distinct vanilla notes that go perfectly with whipped cream. Cake base remained lightly crunchy, which brings a pleasant structure to the cake, while the salt it contains brings out the sweetness of caramel and other layers. A simple to make cake that will be perfect both for your family gatherings and for a festive table.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (18 x 28 cm baking tin)

Vanilla filling

  • 750 ml milk
  • 50 g sugar
  • 2 no sugar vanilla pudding packets
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 150 g butter

Whipped cream layer

  • 300 ml cold whipping cream (36%)
  • 150 g cold mascarpone cheese
  • 40 g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
Also
  • 200 – 250 g salted crackers
  • 200 g caramel
  • 10 g dark chocolate (72%)

Method

  1. Prepare the custard that will form the base of our vanilla filling. Pour around 500 ml milk into a medium pot and add 50 g fine white sugar. Stir through the contents of the pot until sugar dissolves and heat milk up until it starts to simmer slowly.
  2. Add 2 packets no sugar vanilla pudding mix and 1 tsp vanilla paste to remaining 250 ml of milk. Stir through the ingredients shortly until they combine fully. If you don't have vanilla paste at hand, use vanilla extract or replace part of sugar with vanilla sugar.
  3. Return to a cooker hob where milk should be simmering slowly by now. Turn heat under the pot to low and add pudding base to boiling milk while stirring the contents of the pot. This way unpleasant lumps will not form in your pudding. Once the ingredients combine increase heat under the pot to medium and cook its contents until thick but still fluid pudding forms. Don't stop stirring as the pudding may burn. If it happens it may become bitter and you will need to start afresh.
  4. Once you get the right texture take pot off heat and pour its contents into a wide dish. Cover pudding with plastic wrap to prevent a thick skin from forming and set it aside to cool completely.
  5. Once pudding is cool, prepare the cake base. Arrange a layer of salted crackers in a bottom of a baking tin, 18 x 28 cm. The bottom of the baking tin should be lined with baking paper, and its sides - with baking paper or acetate foil. I'm arranging my salted crackers in a brickwork pattern, as tight as I can. Put around 200 g caramel on top of salted crackers and spread it slowly across the whole surface. I'm using homemade caramel, but store-bought caramel filling will work just as well. If your caramel, like mine, is quite thick, it is worth heating it up lightly. It will make it easier to spread.
  6. Cover caramel with another layer of salted crackers. I'm arranging it in exactly the same way as the first one, at 90 degrees angle. This way we'll create a solid cake base that won't break up as you slice the dessert. Put the baking tin into a fridge as you work on vanilla filling.
  7. Cream 150 g of soft butter for a few minutes with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Both pudding and butter should be at room temperature, so remember to take it out of a fridge at least an hour ahead of making the vanilla filling. Once you get the right texture scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. It's worth repeating it from time to time to ensure everything combines as it should. 
  8. Add cool pudding to creamed butter. Do it slowly, a tablespoon at a time, and cream each batch quickly but accurately before you add the next one. Don't do it for too long though or the filling may split. Once you add all of pudding the vanilla filling may be quite fluid. It will set after a night in a fridge.
  9. Transfer ready vanilla filling onto a salted cracker base and spread it evenly across the surface. Cover vanilla filling with the last layer of salted crackers. I keep doing it in the same way: in a brickwork pattern, as tight as possible. I've used around 220 g salted crackers for the whole cake, but the exact amount will depend on the crackers, how you cut them and how you arrange them.
  10. Return the cake to a fridge and work on the whipped cream layer. Pour 300 ml cold whipping cream (36%) into a large bowl. Add 150 g cold mascarpone cheese, 40 g icing sugar and a generous teaspoon of vanilla paste. Beat the contents of the bowl together with an electric mixer until stiff. I recommend starting at low mixer speed and increasing it gradually as cream increases in volume. This will help you avoid a cloud of icing sugar in your kitchen.
  11.  Transfer whipped cream onto the top of the cake and spread it evenly across the whole surface. Vanilla filling should be a bit firmer by now, which will make it easier to distribute and even out the cream. Finally, grate some dark chocolate on top of the cake. Put the cake into a fridge for a few hours, or best overnight, to set completely.
  12. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

  • 341 kcal
  • Carbs: 24 g
  • Fat: 26 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Fibre: 0 g

1 slice (recipe makes 15 slices)

  • 408 kcal
  • Carbs: 29 g
  • Fat: 31 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Fibre: 0 g

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