Happy Wednesday! Let's start this short week with a slice of caramel cake and a cup of hearty tea (or coffee), shall we? It's not one of my healthier cakes, this one is the real (cake-y) deal. Yup, it has sugar, butter, white flour and everything else, but boy of boy, it's SO indulging...
Sometimes, when you are low on energy and feel a bit sad about the world, you just have to make a cake like this one. It does the trick! Try it...
Caramel Cake
(Cake-base recipe
Julia Moskin. Caramel frosting recipe adapted from
Delish)
For the cake:
- ½ cup/110 grams unsalted butter, slightly softened, more for the pan
- 1 ½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour, more for the pan
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ⅔ cup/158 milliliters whole milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup/200 grams sugar
- 1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites
For the caramel frosting:
- 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
- 1/2 firmly packed cup brown sugar
- 1/4 c. heavy cream
- pinch of kosher salt
- a dash of pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, sifted
Make the cake:
Heat your oven to 325 degrees and place a rack in the center. Butter and line the bottom of a cake pan. Flour the pan, coating the bottom and sides, then tap out any excess flour.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vanilla.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, slowly add egg and whites and beat until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Scrape down the bowl. Add half the flour mixture, then the milk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture, beating to blend after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and blend once more.
Transfer the batter into your baking pan and bake until the top is just dry to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let it cool for about 20 minutes.
Make the caramel frosting:
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add brown sugar and cream and whisk to combine.
Cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture is bubbling and smells like caramel - about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool for 2 minutes. Add salt and vanilla; whisk briefly.
Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and beat until incorporated, starting on low and gradually increasing speed to high and until the mix is completely smooth.
Lastly, turn the cooled cakes out of the pans and cut it (vertically) into two parts. Using an offset spatula, frost the in-between layers. Stack them together and place the remaining frosting on top of the cake. Ta-dah!
P.S:
Yum!
P.P.S:
Fancy more?
(Photos by
exPress-o)
