Caramel Cake with Brown Butter Caramel Frosting

I so suck.  I am so late with this entry.

After four days of cooking I finally managed to sit down and look at the hasty pictures I took and nearly cried.   Almost nothing about this cake turned out at all right for me with the sterling exception of the sugar syrup; which to be perfectly fair turned out not just well, but actually spectacular.

The cake wasn’t bad either.  The frosting….I don’t want to talk about it.

Not that I won’t…in the interest of full disclosure that is.

But I will start with the good parts.

The cake was, in a word: WONDERFUL.  It had the kind of deep caramel notes and moist texture that makes my caramel loving soul sing.   That having been said, the cake was pretty standard.  Aside from the caramel syrup which helped to create those wonderful caramel notes, it came together like any other cake.  I was a bit concerned about the total amount of liquid vs dry ingredients but it baked up just fine.  If a bit dense.  I might have reduced the amount of liquid next time but I would have to experiment.

The hardest part of the cake was the caramel syrup.  Above and beyond the fact that caramel is about as close to culinary napalm as it gets, caramel is a tricky, tricky thing to get right.  Not cooked enough and the caramel has no flavor.  A moment too long and you have black, acrid tar that isn’t fit to poison rats.  And that’s saying something.  The batch for this cake turned out just right.  Nearly mahogany in color, it tasted just like the top of a crème brule.  I couldn’t help licking my fingers as I worked with the sticky syrup.  It was probably my favorite part of the recipe. 

And now for my failure.

I am not great with frostings.  Part of the reason is that as much as I like frosting, most frosting recipes are simply too sweet for me.  I also refuse to use anything with hydrogenated oils.  This limits my options a bit. 

From the first reading of this recipe, I had concerns about the frosting.  While I jumped at the idea of caramel and browned butter the whole pound of powdered sugar left me with the feeling that I wasn’t so much making frosting as making caramel flavored modeling clay.  I was almost right.  When I first started, slowly adding the powdered sugar, the frosting just seized up.  Adding cream to it, simply make it slosh around alarmingly.  In an attempt to rescue it I switched from the paddle attachment to the whisk and after much fiddling got it to whip.

But even with half the amount of sugar the recipe called for, the frosting made my teeth ache.  It was so sweet that I could barely stand to taste it.  I didn’t want to give up however.  So I decided to whip up some whipped cream and fold the two together.

Even then with a full pint of cream, the frosting was still too sweet.  Even adding salt didn’t help, though it did deepen the caramel flavor.  Thankfully, the slightly bitter edge of the sugar syrup helped to rein it in a little bit.

The real frosting failure was the texture.  Because the heaviness of the butter cream deflated the whipped cream, the frosting was rather soft.  It sort of glopped on and wouldn’t smooth out.  The crumb coat was more of a crumb slop.  This is the point at which I gave up any delusion of actually piping the frosting and resorted to the last ditch desperation effort of using a large serving fork and sort of raking it across the surface of the cake.

The awful pictures hold further testament to that failure.  I had a mere 10 minutes to drizzle on the caramel syrup and take the photos.  I had hoped to get sunlight but even that wouldn’t cooperate.

I explain all this because I feel it is only fair.  I spend so much time rhapsodizing about how well recipes work and how well things turn out, I feel it only fair to post an occasional disaster.

In the end, the cake enjoyed resounding success.  Frosting failure aside.  It was creamy, deeply caramel flavored and very moist.  It was decadently rich, everything a Thanksgivings dessert should be.  And with nearly a pound of butter it is the kind of cake that should be relegated to special occasions.

The cake is a definite keeper, a fantastic alternative to boring white or yellow cake and much better than chocolate.  I will definitely be making the cake again.  But next time without the frosting.

If I am forced to make frosting for this cake I will make it with cream cheese.  Or Neufchatel or even just straight whipped cream.  There will be no butter cream.

Note:  Even though the cake was very moist.  As extra added insurance, I diluted some of the caramel syrup with a little bit of water and drizzled it over the cut cake.  I think that it added a nice depth to the flavor.

CARAMEL CAKE

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature [1]
1 ¼ Cups granulated sugar
½ 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
½  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 and dust with raw sugar. [2]

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 [3], 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 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 almost mahogany.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so step back and add the water with your hand covered with a pot holder.

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.  Hot sugar will continue to burn so be very careful.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
Note:  This frosting is REALLY sweet, I do not recommend using it.  Instead I suggest adding the caramel syrup to whipped cream and using that as frosting.

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

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

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

[1] Room temperature butter mean around 62-65 degrees.  I suggest using a thermometer.  If the butter is too warm, it will be impossible to whip enough air and the cake will be very flat and dense.
[2] Raw sugar will not only help the cake to keep from sticking but will add a lovely crunch.  Also, unlike flour, sugar won't leave ugly white spots.
[3] The cake was not ready to be turned after30 minute.  It was very jiggly.  I let it go for about 40.  Then tur

Comments

[Sylvie]

Whole Foods sells a trans-fat-free (and I believe unhydrogenated) vegetable shortening. http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=87
A proper buttercream won't have shortening anyway, though they're sort of a pain to make.
I don't know what Cake Love (http://cakelove.com/) puts in their frosting, but it's tasty and they don't use vegetable oil or shortening.

[kitarra]

Sylvie,

Thank you so much for the tip on the shortening. I am vegetarian/vegan part of the year and this will make baking during that part much easier! Thank you!

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Yep, I like the caramel and the cake!!! Actually loved the browned butter.
Too much sugar.

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Yep, I like the caramel and the cake!!! Actually loved the browned butter.
Too much sugar.

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Yep, I like the caramel and the cake!!! Actually loved the browned butter.
Too much sugar.

[Murasaki Shikibu]

I love the taste of caramel but like you said it requires precision and I'm always afraid it will be too early or too late.

I'm a firm believer in caramelizing things so when I make pasta sauce I make sure my onions reach that stage before I put in the tomatoes and I like to roast red peppers so that they are caramelized, etc.

Your cake sounds delicious and maybe one day when I'm feeling confident I'll try making it. :)