Marie Antoinette
With the holidays upon us, the wonderful & rapidly expanding group of Daring Bakers, after 2 months of going savoury, have brought sugar back to the party…& HOW!! This months challenge is a signature Caramel Cake courtesy Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater. Our hosts this month are Dolores @ Culinary Cusiosity, Alex, ie Brownie of the duo @ Blondie & Brownie , & Jenny of Foray into Food.
It was a bit of an uphill drive to get to the challenge this time. So far I’ve just missed 1 challenge, the Opera Cake one, & this was almost also given a pass. I have Dharm @ Dad, Baker & Chef (add humourist, writer, entertainer, 007 on a mission…& much more), my DB mentor, to thank entirely. He completed the challenge is record time & mailed me the same evening, encouraging me to have a go at the challenge . Am glad you did Dharm, coz I’d made up my mind to skip it. Thanks too for the sweet sugar advice….despite my knocking off a sizeable amount of sugar, the cake & frosting was still quite sweet.
You see, we were off to Sydney, & there the daughter fell it, was hospitalised etc, & by the time we got back, it was back to doctors, blood tests…& laundry!! Ho hum…cannot escape the mundanities of life. No pile of ironing though, ha ha Nic, coz that’s taken care of by a guy who comes & takes a daily bunch to iron out. He returns a neat bundle every evening & I can’t complain!!
CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
Recipe Source: Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater, as published on Bay Area Bites
(My changes in brackets alongside in italics)
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar (1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
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
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar (1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
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
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.
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for “stopping” the caramelization process)
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.
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted (1/2 pound; 200gms)
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.
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
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.
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for “stopping” the caramelization process)
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.
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted (1/2 pound; 200gms)
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.
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
I topped the frosting on the cake with shards of coloured melted sugar. I remember seeing something this on a blog post, I think at Tartlettes on a Cashew Cake. Searched Helen’s blog high & low but couldn’t find the post. With the little memory I have remaining, I got to these shards made in a couple of attempts. I just put some sugar granules on a foil (greased) lined cookie sheet, in a medium oven, & watched closely till the sugar melted. Quickly dropped a few drops of food colour, swirled it & let is harden. Then I broke bits off & stuck them into the icing. For the edges, I used some hardened shards of caramel (which became too thick the first time around).
Do stop by HERE & check out all the holiday sweetness being served by other Daring Bakers around the world. Thank you for hosting the challenge Dolores, Alex & Jenny. I really enjoyed it.
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