Daring Baker's Challenge - Caramel Cake and a Sugar High

Well friends, I successfully finished my second Daring Baker's Challenge. I was thrilled when I found out the challenge was Carmel Cake because of my love of anything caramel, and because it would be a perfect surprise for my Dad's birthday which was in November. If you can't stand the thought of eating another dessert after the smorgasbord of food consumed over Thanksgiving, then make the cake and give it to a friend just so you can experience the delicious smell of browned butter and caramel that fills your home. Thank you to our fabulous hosts for November's challenge: Dolores, Alex and Jenny .

The original recipe comes from Shuna Fish Lyndon. We were given quite a bit of freedom with the recipe, so I decided to make a layered 9 inch cake. I had also been warned about the sweetness level of this cake, so I made some alterations such as cutting down on the sugar content and adding salt.

The first step is to make the caramel. You'll end up having extra caramel left over, so you can use it for other tasty treats or use it to sweeten your morning tea.

Caramel Syrup:
-2 cups sugar

-1/2 cup water

-1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization 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. (Boil about 6-7 minutes. Once you see a slight change of color, pay close attention because the sugar can burn very easily. I burnt my first batch by trying to reach too dark of a color. However, a darker colored caramel syrup will help cut the sweetness factor is the end product.)

-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. (I put a piece of foil with a hole in the middle over the saucepan to prevent any caramel from jumping out. this worked very well.)

-Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. (The consistency should be like maple syrup.) {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting:
-10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

-1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar

-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

-1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe above)

-2 each eggs, at room temperature

-splash vanilla extract

-2 Cups all-purpose flour

-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

-1 cup milk, at room temperature

-Preheat oven to 350F

-Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan. (I used 2 9-inch cake pans, and divided the batter between the two pans.)

-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. (if using two 9-inch pans, fill each half full.)

-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. (If using two 9-inch pans, cook for about 25 minutes.)

-Cool cake completely before icing it.

-Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

Caramelized Butter Frosting:

-12 Tablespoons unsalted butter

-1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted (I cut this down to 3 cups.)

-4-6 tablespoons heavy cream

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup (see recipe above)

-Kosher or sea salt to taste (Start with 1/2 tsp. and add to your desired taste)

-Cook butter until brown. (Browning the butter will cut down on the sweetness factor, and adds a flavor that is incredibly delicious!)

-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.

Note: Caramelized 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.

To assemble, place one layer of the cake on a cake stand. Drizzle with caramel syrup and place second cake on top. Smooth a thin layer of frosting over entire cake. Spread crushed almonds or pecans on top of cake, and decorate edges using a pastry bag and your favorite tip. Sprinkle a small amount of sea salt on top of nuts (the pairing of the savory salt with the sweet cake is a great combination). I placed the cake in the fridge and pulled it out just before serving. The result was a dense, cool cake that everyone loved.

As I mentioned earlier, I made this cake for my Dad's birthday so I wanted to add an unexpected punch of color as a topper on the cake. Since so much of this cake is about playing with sugar, I decided to make Stained Glass Caramel from Tartelette to continue the sugar fun.

Stained Glass Caramel Windows:
-1 cup sugar

-2 1/2 Tb water

-various food colorings

-Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

-Drop a few drops of food coloring onto the paper. Do not touch them, swirl them or move them.

-In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and water, do not stir and bring to a boil over high heat.

-Continue to boil until the caramel reaches the soft crack stage or 140C - 285F on a candy thermometer (do not let it turn color).

-Immediately pour over the parchment paper with the food coloring.

-Take the baking sheet with your hands and move it left to right, right to left to move and swirl the colors.

-Let set until completely cooled. Break pieces of your desired size to decorate the cake with. The stained glass adds a fun structural element to the cake. Overall, it was a hit and every last bit of browned butter goodness was gobbled up!