as you know i have a bit of a baking aversion. but before you remind me of how i tend to go on about this little culinary problem of mine, let me just say that it is really most specifically pastry that i run from – screaming. cakes, loaves, pizza dough – even breads, i can do on occasion despite it being a messy undertaking with flour everywhere. when i bake it’s as though a fairly major renovation job has gone down in my house, and i’m still finding drywall dust in every nook and cranny days later. yes, this is what happens when i bake… which is why i rarely bake. except for pastry which i never ever do. ever.
but i made 2 caramel cakes in 3 days. the first was a birthday cake for angela (and a dare to myself) and the second one was just to see if the first one had been a fluke. because this cake was a surprisingly good cake. and it is doable. you don’t even have to ice it. it’s merely a caramel glaze that runs over the sides in a grown up kinda rustic looking way. this cake? is my kinda cake. and it is now my official signature cake. from here on in – if it’s your birthday – it’s caramel cake. if you want carrot cake, you’ll have to go elsewhere. and i will not apologize. because i am the friend who will bake you a kickass caramel cake.
and it won’t be a white cake or a yellow cake with caramel frosting either. it will be 3 layers of real caramel cake held together with caramel syrup. because this is the way it’s done in my house when i bake ceF’s official signature caramel cake.
caramel cake
adapted from desert candy
for caramel syrup:
1 ½ cups sugar plus ¾ cup water
½ cup of water for stopping
for cake:
14 tablespoons (7 oz) unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups light brown sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup caramel syrup (from above)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ cups buttermilk
for assembly:
the rest of the caramel syrup
for glaze:
1.5 cups heavy cream
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt – or more to taste
Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, have the additional ½ cup water ready on the side. Boil the syrup, watching closely, until it turns dark amber. Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining water to "stop" the caramel. Stir the mixture with a fork until it comes together, then set aside to cool to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350 F, grease and flour 3 9-inch cake pans. In a bowl cream the butter until smooth, then cream in the brown sugar and salt until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in the caramel syrup. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla, until very smooth and combined. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, to make a smooth cake batter. Divide cake batter among prepared pans. Bake in the center of the oven (rotating pans halfway through), for 25 minutes, or until firm, golden, and the sides pull away from the edge of the pan. Set aside to cool.
(note – i use convection ovens so this was how long it took in mine. keep an eye and don’t overbake!)
On a cake plate, stack the cake layers, spreading 2 tablespoons maple syrup or caramel syrup between the layers so that they stick together. Press down firmly (at this point, the cake can be triple-wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to one month, or simply covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight).
Glaze cake: Combine cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a saucepan. Boil the mixture until it reaches 235 F, or soft-ball stage. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla. Give the mixture several rapid stirs, then quickly pour it over the cake before the glaze hardens.
in the first cake (above) i used 3 cups of heavy cream as i accidentally misread the recipe which i know that you, dear readers would never do because you are not too vain to put on your reading glasses. so although it was excellent, i never let it get to the soft-ball stage because first of all i think i must have used too much cream, and secondly, if that were not the case then i just needed more nerve, know-how and patience because i, quite frankly had no idea what the hell i was doing and could not find my old candy thermometer. candy shmandy, i never go there either…
for the second cake i used 2 cups of cream but again was thermometer-less which made me ’concerned’ while it was boiling away - so this time the glaze came out a bit thin. then again, you’re never too rich or too thin and this was certainly both of those, but still, i kept trying to get the damn soft-ball to form in the glass of cool water, and again, i was beyond clueless.
my next cake i am using 1.5 cups of cream (as now reflected in the recipe) – as in following directions – something i am not wont to do…
because… the glaze should set quickly after being removed from the heat and form a crust-like finish when poured. and mine never quite got there. but my next one will. because i found my candy thermometer. so now i am unstoppable. and hey, it’s not like the first 2 weren’t excellent cakes…they just were not perfect. and well, as you know, here at ceF, we strive for perfection bigtime - and then we take what we get and go on merrily with life.
cake #2 – with thin caramel glaze pooling at the bottom…
cake #2 suddenly exuding a greenish lightsaber-like glow…
i am a jedi baker…
46 responses so far ↓
1 maybelles mom (feeding maybelle) // Sep 12, 2008 at 6:43 pm
hey, caramel cake is my FAVORITE thing to bake; every thankgiving I make two. My recipe is a little different (uses condensed milk.) But, this looks like heaven. I might switch it up and do yours this year.
2 Nate // Sep 12, 2008 at 6:48 pm
“because i found my candy thermometer. so now i am unstoppable.”
bwahahahaha!
Your candy thermometer *is* your lightsaber…
3 cookiecrumb // Sep 12, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Neat-o. You are brave and proven.
(May 2.)
MAY 2!!!
4 evil chef mom // Sep 12, 2008 at 8:00 pm
so… i have to make some cakes for my son’s and brother’s birthday on sunday… is it really that good? should i replace my really good fo’shizzle chocolate cake for this one?
5 democommie // Sep 12, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Claudia:
October 25th; me ‘n’ Signor Picasso. Send them both to me, he’s on a diet.
I will have to send you the recipe for the “Inside Out German Chocolate Cake” (bathed in a chocolate ganache) from Saveur.
6 Amy at Minimally Invasive // Sep 12, 2008 at 9:18 pm
My birthday’s in March. Just in case you were wondering.
7 Robert // Sep 12, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Fret,
Reading ” grown up kinda rustic looking way” .
I dont think I’ve ever heard that term at CakeCity………
8 Greg in Chattanooga // Sep 12, 2008 at 9:37 pm
January 11th and don’t ask the year.
9 kate // Sep 12, 2008 at 9:43 pm
you have to love an easy cake.
Side note – I’m November 4th.
10 Diana // Sep 12, 2008 at 10:48 pm
This is fabulous. A perfect follow-up to my butterscotch attempt. And I actually TRUST your recipe.
11 Marc @ NoRecipes // Sep 12, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I have a bit of a baking aversion as well, but this I could do. YUM!
12 NOBLE PIG // Sep 12, 2008 at 11:08 pm
I’m speechless, I mean this is brilliance. I am bowing down now.
13 Lauren // Sep 13, 2008 at 8:35 am
that’s a mighty fine looking cake you got there. congrats!
14 RecipeGirl // Sep 13, 2008 at 9:53 am
oozy delicious!
15 Heather // Sep 13, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Haha I’m glad (and unsurprised) that it’s not a fluke. Would it be sacrilege to add espresso to the glaze? Not that your glaze has any room for improvement, I just really like coffee.
16 Donald // Sep 13, 2008 at 7:18 pm
O
M
G!!!!
17 Sara // Sep 13, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Your cake looks beautiful, I love anything caramel!
18 Shari // Sep 13, 2008 at 8:29 pm
That looks amazing! A great Fall dessert, I bet. Love your tidbits about being thermometer-less!
19 democommie // Sep 14, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Claudia:
I don’t know if your local NPR affiliate runs “Selected Shorts” with Isaiah Scheffer (sp?). If they do you might want to catch this one:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/shorts/episodes/2008/09/14
“Sorry Fugu,” by T.C. Boyle, read by Tony Roberts.
It’s pretty hilarious.
I did as you suggested and put my web address on here, just one caveat. I am exceedingly nasty and sometimes quite foulmouthed when I am not in the company of gentle people such as your devoted readers.
20 Mari // Sep 14, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I love it when you overcome your baking aversion! This looks amazing!
21 Tim // Sep 14, 2008 at 5:33 pm
This looks wonderful and I plan on baking it for my friends birthday next week. Thank you Claudia !
22 Lesley // Sep 14, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Oh, well it just so happens that my birthday is two weeks from tomorrow. Though I have been trying to figure out something cakewrecks-worthy to order from Sweet 16th to celebrate the occasion. I really like that dead clown cake. Who doesn’t love a dead clown? Though if I had a caramel cake, I would not share it. No. Go away, it’s my birthday.
23 MangerLaVille // Sep 14, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Wow, I am obsessed with caramel cake but have never found one that I have imagine when dreaming of this cake. But when I saw your’s, I knew this was the one. I can’t wait to make it. Thanks
24 Becky and the Beanstock // Sep 15, 2008 at 9:10 am
Bloody gorgeous! It looks like you’ve found yourself a new business, like it or not. And just so you know, I have TWO birthdays every year. : )
25 Marie // Sep 15, 2008 at 10:01 am
I can totally relate, my kitchen is a disaster when I bake! But that oozing goodness would make the clean up all worth it!
26 Brittany // Sep 15, 2008 at 11:53 am
Oh MY god. I mean…wow. Holy shit.
THIS came from a girl who doesn’t bake?? Now that is a fucking caramel cake! Not like those yellow frosted Paula Dean abortions.
27 lisa // Sep 15, 2008 at 11:53 am
Turns out I love caramel and cake! No other options are necessary.
28 AlmostVegetarian.coma // Sep 15, 2008 at 1:40 pm
You know, much as I adore sweets, I am really not fond of caramel (my failing, I am sure). But my husband is. And he has been working so hard lately. Hmmm, that gives me an idea …
Thanks for the recipe!
Cheers.
29 Julie // Sep 15, 2008 at 10:08 pm
That is a thing of beauty.
30 Lynn // Sep 16, 2008 at 8:34 am
Last November when one of my best friend’s birthdays was pending I looked all over for a caramel cake recipe.
Nothin’. Nada. Zip.
I made her a caramel cheesecake instead.
But this year…she’s getting this one!
What a beauty!
31 jim voorhies // Sep 16, 2008 at 1:35 pm
yum. so I have to buy a candy thermometer, huh?
32 caviar and codfish // Sep 17, 2008 at 5:49 am
Ahhh yes! A non-cake maker’s cake. This is just what I need!
I really want to eat that for breakfast.
33 Kim // Sep 17, 2008 at 6:58 am
Caramel and cake-I am in! And to think I have a candy thermometer already. Good job Claudia, you will be a pastry baker in no time.
34 Robert // Sep 17, 2008 at 9:01 am
Fret,
Yeah.
What Kim said…………..
35 ponyboat // Sep 17, 2008 at 12:46 pm
January 8. Same day as Elvis. Impossible to forget!! And if you do, don’t worry I will provide you with periodic reminders.
36 Tommy Noodles // Sep 17, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Ma-dom-da-mia! And you wanted a diet manhattan special!
37 Jaden, Steamy Kitchen // Sep 18, 2008 at 8:12 am
i WISH i was a jedi baker…but i’m just soooo not an oven girl. in fact, i’m fretting over the last chapter of the book – the dessert section b/c next week i have to start working on it!
38 rebecca // Sep 18, 2008 at 9:03 am
this sounds, and looks great. thanks for sharing the recipe. i’ve had cake with caramel icing, but never caramel cake w/caramel icing.
39 michelle @ TNS // Sep 18, 2008 at 10:20 am
you won’t do pastry, but you’ll deal with molten sugar?
way to use the word “rustic,” the ultimate justification for messy-looking food.
(i use it all the damn time)
40 lifeinrecipes // Sep 18, 2008 at 10:27 am
I cannot make this cake until I have company.
I am SUCH a caramel girl – I would polish the entire three layers off in record warp speed time.
41 kittie // Sep 18, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I love the dripping glaze – I made a chocolate one recently which was quite similar (not posted yet!) Really suits me as I have the cake artistry of a wild boar…
Bookmarked!
42 holiday grinch // Sep 18, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I am so totally in agreement with you on the baking thing. I pull out the flour for pizza dough, gougeres, and gingerbread, that’s about it. But I look at my beautiful Kitchen Aid stand mixer and think about baking more. The other night I was reading Julia Child’s wonderful directions for making croissants in “Mastering the Art…” (BTW the 2 vol set is now at Costco for an amazing $19.99), and being from NY, I know a good croissant, so I may try making some. Now I want to make this caramel cake too. Do you think it would taste good with some rum sprinkled on the cake before frosting?
43 zenchef // Sep 18, 2008 at 11:19 pm
It doesn’t look like you have a baking aversion to me. That right there could turn me into a Cakecriminal!
“Hand over the cake!! This is a robbery!”
You’re the best!
44 Mal Carne // Sep 19, 2008 at 9:38 am
Looks awesome, and possibly even I could do this without melting down into a baking induced temper tantrum.
45 countrymouse // Sep 20, 2008 at 3:45 am
Can I lick the spoon?!!
Really, just let me run my finger around the plate.
I live for caramel, not chocolate. Oct. 13.
Try these… Boehm’s Black Licorice Caramel’s…
http://snipurl.com/3s2c9 [www_boehmscandies_com]
Scary delicious.
46 visitmyflashback // Sep 28, 2008 at 9:26 am
Alright so I just discovered this recipe… I mean right now. I love the presentation. It’s so simple and rustic with a shiny blanket of caramel dressing it. I do not bake much. Baking is so scientific and precise and I always find myself wanting to change a technique or add an ingredient at the wrong time just to see what happens. I usually end up with a very undesirable product. I can’t even make cupcakes. This cake makes me want to give it swirl. It’s the caramel……yum.
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