I absolutely love Stonewall Kitchen. Whenever I'm in an area with one of their stores (especially the York, Maine one), I make a point to walk in, wander around, sample everything in sight, see what's new, and usually purchase a few things to bring home. They recently contacted me to see if I wanted to try a couple of their new dessert sauces. No hesitation here.
The first one I sampled was the Maple Dulce de Leche.
Dulce de leche is an ultracreamy caramel-like sauce. Stonewall Kitchen took this decadent sauce a step further and added pure maple syrup to it. My first thought was waffles. I made a batch of buttermilk waffles for breakfast one morning, buttered them, and drizzled the Maple Dulce de Leche all over them. Had I added a little whipped cream too, I'd have been eating dessert for breakfast for sure. I figure a simple drizzle didn't quite cross that line. I'll happily replace my maple syrup with some of this sauce any time I'm seeking a more indulgent breakfast. (Next week I'll share a dessert I made with some of the sauce.)
I decided to use the Espresso Dulce de Leche in a dessert. I had seen a recipe for molten dulce de leche cakes and started thinking about how good those cakes would be with deep coffee notes, and then I added a little cocoa powder too. There's no going wrong with chocolate, caramel, and coffee, in my opinion.
The strong espresso notes definitely came through in the cakes and balanced the sweet dulce de leche.
Molten Chocolate Espresso Dulce De Leche Cakes
(adapted from Bon Appetit)
These small cakes, with just a hint of chocolate, ooze espresso dulce de leche and are just perfect with a scoop of ice cream. They're coffee and dessert in one.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg plus 2 yolks
1 (12.5-ounce) jar Stonewall Kitchen Espresso Dulce de Leche
Vanilla ice cream
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter and flour four 6- to 10-ounce ramekins and place on rimmed baking sheet. Combine flour and cocoa powder in small bowl.
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat egg and yolks on medium-high speed until thick and doubled in volume, about 5 minutes.
Add dulce de leche and mix until combined, scraping down bowl as needed.
With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour-cocoa mixture. Beat until combined, scraping down bowl as needed.
Divide batter among ramekins. Transfer sheet to oven, and bake cakes until edges are set and centers still jiggle, 10 to 14 minutes. Transfer sheet to cooling rack.
Run small offset spatula or thin knife around edges of ramekins to loosen cakes. Carefully turn cakes out onto individual plates. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.
Would you like to try these new dessert sauces from Stonewall Kitchen? Simply leave a comment letting me know how you'd use one of the sauces. You have until September 18, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. EST to enter. I'll choose one winner and notify the winner soon after. Please make sure to leave me some way to contact you.
Stonewall Kitchen sent me these sauces to sample and is providing sauces for the giveaway. As always, all opinions are my own.