Now that I have decided to make a gourmet version of the classic Ah Caramel!, I am filled with a TON of questions. The inquiry process is overwhelming because I tried ONCE to create a childhood classic and it was a success, but I had spent a couple of days planning it and working on a trial and error basis. I don’t feel that I have that type of time right now.
So where to start? Let’s go back to the product
An Ah Caramel is a vanilla sponge square cake (about 3-4 inches) topped with a dollop of caramel (about 1 inch) surrounded by a single line of white sugary cream. The whole cake is then covered by tempered chocolate. I remember the sponge to be dry and the caramel to be incredibly sticky. Could I create a more moist sponge without ruining the whole finished product?
My second question is about the caramel. It will be difficult to recreate that candy-like translucent caramel. It is definitely not a dulce de lecce which is distinguishable by its milky after-taste. It might be closer to the butterscotch which has a note of salt and that very classic taffy texture.
What makes the Ah Caramel so delicious is the combinaison of caramel and vanilla cream. It has a couple of layers of sweetness which makes it exciting and not boring at all for a snack cake. That vanilla cream is a mystery to me. Is it buttercream? With a Swiss meringue base? The only thing I know is that recipe will be the perfect occasion to use my clear vanilla essence. The clear vanilla essence is different from the darker one since it is more synthetic and it imitates more the boxed cake flavour than the real rich vanilla. Remember the taste of a Betty Crocker cake from your childhood? This is clear vanilla essence. It is also delicious, but in a different way!
And the tempered chocolate. What to say other than that I have never done that? So, what is tempering? According to Baking bites’ blog, “Tempering is a word that means improving the consistency, durability or hardness of a substance by heating and cooling it.” I think it is tempered chocolate because it has that snappy shell like we get on a chocolate dipped soft serve ice cream. You can temper chocolate in many ways, but ultimately I will do it by hand I think.
Here is my hypothesis
So now that I have reflected on the many component of the cake, I think that I will proceed like this:
- Bake a white vanilla sheet cake
- Make butterscotch
- Vanilla Swiss Meringue
- Tempered milk chocolate
Do I need a recipe?
I am afraid of looking at the following recipes because they seem to break down my inquiry into an easy step by step to follow and that is not what I want. I have a great recipe for each component of the Ah Caramel and I think I will trust my tastebuds and my baking knowledge to make this challenge a success.
I leave you with a couple of recipes to browse in French (it is after all a Quebec company), but I haven’t look at any of these.
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/tele/quebec-sur-demande/site/complements/extra/3724/gateau-ah-caramel-vachon
https://cuisinez.telequebec.tv/recettes/2234/ah-caramel
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/tele/marina-orsini/2016-2017/complements/recette/1947/gros-caramel-comme-dans-le-temp-remy-couture
