This month’s Daring Bakers tackle the Caramel Cake.  Now the Caramel Cake is near and dear to my heart.  Each family gathering has my Granny whipping up her infamous Caramel Cake.  Yes, there was one on the Thanksgiving table this year.  And it was devoured before any other dessert.  Including German Chocolate Cake, Red Velvet Cake, and Coconut Wet Cake.Granny’s Caramel Cake is the best.  So Shuna’s Caramel Cake was under a lot of pressure.  It’s had a lot to live up to.  Sadly, it was unable to do it.

This cake involved making caramel syrup and incorporating it with both the cake batter and the frosting.  I was afraid of burning the sugar, so the caramel might have been slightly under-developed.  Even so, the cake tasted OK.  It was a dense cake and the frosting was extremely sweet.  Too sweet for me.  I was only able to enjoy one slice myself before sending it off with my parents to hack away at.  It was fun to work with sugar and I will jump at the opportunity to work with it again.  But I also would choose my Granny’s Caramel Cake any day of the year.

On a side note, I had plenty of left over caramel syrup and was wondering what to do with the leftovers.  After storing it in the pantry for about a week, I had a recipe that called for honey.  After realizing that I was completely out of honey, I thought that the caramel syrup would make a great substitute.  And it did.  I used it in a salad dressing and to caramelize walnuts.  Feel free to experiment with a variety of uses for the caramel syrup!

CARAMEL CAKE with Caramelized Butter Frosting

The Ingredients:

• 10 Tablespoons UNSALTED BUTTER, ROOM TEMP
• 1 1/4 Cups SUGAR
• 1/2 teaspoon KOSHER SALT
• 1/3 Cup CARAMEL SYRUP*
• 2 EGGS, ROOM TEMP
• splash VANILLA EXTRACT
• 2 Cups AP FLOUR
• 1/2 teaspoon BAKING POWDER
• 1C MILK, ROOM TEMP
• *Caramel syrup recipe follows

The Steps:

Preheat oven to 350F
Butter one tall 9″ cake pan.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth.
2. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.
3. Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl.
4. 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.
5. Sift flour and baking powder.
6. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dries.
7. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time.
8. Add another third of the dries, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dries. {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.}
9. Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds. making sure batter is uniform.

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 unrefrigerated.

CARAMEL SYRUP

The Ingredients:

• 2 Cups SUGAR
• 1/2 Cup WATER
• 1 Cup water for “stopping”

The Steps:

1. In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand.
2. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush.
3. Turn on heat to highest flame.
4. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.
5. 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 prepared to step back.
6. 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.}

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

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

The Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons UNSALTED BUTTER
• 1 Pound CONFECTIONER’S SUGAR, SIFTED
• 4-6 Tablespoons HEAVY CREAM
• 2 teaspoons VANILLA EXTRACT
• 2-4 Tablespoons CARAMEL SYRUP
• Kosher or sea salt to taste

The Steps:

1. Cook butter until brown.
2. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.
3. Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.
4. 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.

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.

You heard that right.  The Husband does the Black Friday shopping.  364 days a year I am the one with the spending bug, but Black Friday rolls around and the Husband decides to take away the credit card and use it himself.

Now to be fair, most of this year’s shopping was done online the 48 hours before Black Friday.  The Husband is finally getting his XBOX 360 and a few games to go along with it.  I even stayed up until 3:01 am waiting for the Apple Store sale to begin.  It was lackluster so I hit the bed shortly there after.  But the Husband still wanted to take advantage of some in-store only sales on a couple of video games and pick up the cousin’s and nephew’s presents, so he was up bright and early again this year. While I slept in bed.

And I am glad I did.  Did you hear about the deadly stampede at a Wal-mart?  I hope that more and more stores continue to replicate their Black Friday Sales in their on-line stores so I can continue tot shop in the comfort and safety of my own home.

Happy Black Friday!

• The Husband
• Our good health
• My family
• Living in East Tennessee, which is close to the extended family
• Finishing Law School and Passing the Bar
• A roof over our heads and food on the table

The list could go on and on, but I’d like to know What are you thankful for?

Do you need to protect yourself or a family member?  Visit ConsumerFreedom.com to download your own copies of the Thanksgiving Liability and Indemnification Agreement.

Hat Tip to idealawg for enlightening me on the Agreement.