I dare say caramel cake is going to be rather sweet

Hummmm... and so, I confess to having cut the amount of sugar of the recipe (oops!). I'm sorry to have broken a rule (already) but visiting my dentist absolutely terrifies me!

Anywhooo... enough confessing now back to business.

This month was my first ever daring bakers challenge! The recipe we had to recreate was Caramel Cake with Caramelised Butter Frosting courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon from the Eggbeater. Our hosts were Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex from Blondie and Brownie, Jenny from Foray into Food, and Natalie from Gluten-a-Go-Go. Nice to be acquainted with you all. Ok, enough introduction now back to business.

The cake itself was quite simple to make I found... I made the caramel syrup a day ahead and the frosting the day after. Yes, a three day baking bonanza basically. The result, a dense but quite moist cake of lovely caramel shade with caramel flavour nicely coming through. Not the most delicate I must say... in fact quite heavy indeed. I adjusted the amount of sugar for the frosting and only made half a batch, just enough to blanket the cake.

Original posting of the recipe can be found here.
I am including metric conversion below for fellow metric bakers.

Caramel cake with caramelised butter frosting

10 tablespoons or 140 gr unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cups or 280 gr granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 cups or 250 gr all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup or 250 ml milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F or 180C.

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.



Caramel syrup

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelisation process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

Caramelised butter frosting

12 tablespoons or 170 gr unsalted butter
1 pound or 453 gr confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Caramelised butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light



Note : Hurrah!! It's official! I am now listed on the daring bakers blogroll!