November 30, 2008

Caramelized Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting


A November Daring Baker's Challenge


This month's challenge is for a wonderfully moist and flavorful cake. It is fabulous eaten plain or with the caramelized butter frosting. This recipe is from Shuna Fish Lydon of the blog Eggbeater and her recipe can be found on the website Bay Area Bites. Our hostesses for November are: Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex of Blondie & Brownie (she's Brownie of the duo), and Jenny of Foray into Food. My family thoroughly enjoyed this cake and actually preferred it without the frosting. This recipe is a keeper.
Recipe
CAKE
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp chia seed meal
1/2 cup chestnut flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1. Preheat oven to 350F and butter or grease one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan or a large tube pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt, and cream the mixture 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 flours, chia seed meal and baking powder together in a bowl.
3. 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.
4. 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.
CARAMEL SYRUP
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
1. 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 and is dark amber in color. 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.
2. 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.
CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste
1. 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.
2. 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.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks beautiful, Natalie!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

SUCH a luscious cake - yum!!

Glad to see you posting again!! :-)

BC said...

I like the caramel party favours, yum.

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

The cupcake looks delicious. I also preferred the cake minus the frosting.

Angela's Kitchen said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I agree about this cake being a keeper. It stayed so moist and was simply yummy!!

I so appreciate the input you have given to make the challenges GF. Thank you so much!

I am going to have to get some chia and experiment. It seems like a great binder with a lot of benefits.

Unknown said...

Great job! How did the conversion to gluten-free turn out?

GF in Cleveland said...

that looks absolutely beautiful...and such inventive decorating!!

Megan said...

I love the caramel spikes. It's too bad it didn't work but it's always fun to try something new.

creampuff said...

Oh my gosh I love your caramels on a stick! Natalie, you're my hero(ine). Seriously. I don't know what DB would do without you! You rock!

Gretchen Noelle said...

Your caramel spikes look fun! Great job with this months challenge!

Jane said...

Natalie,
Your cupcakes are lovely! I adore the caramel lollipops on top.

Jane of VeganBits.com

Libby said...

Mini caramel lollies on little cuppy cakes...brilliant! It looks wonderful.

Anonymous said...

I love the bonus caramel candies on top of the cupcakes!

Anonymous said...

Natalie - your cake looks great with the caramels!! We really enjoyed the cake here too (MAJOR sweet teeth in this household!) - AWESOME job making it gluten free, very impressive :)

Anonymous said...

That looks like fun to eat! And thank you also for that warning about the caramel sputtering. I have to be careful about that.

If you have time will you drop by at Foodista ? We are building an online food and cooking encyclopedia ala wikipedia and i hope you can build your profile there share your recipes with us as well.

Anonymous said...

Lovely cupcake, I like the little caramel toppers. Well done.

Anonymous said...

your cake looks wonderful with the caramels. Beautiful job!

Anonymous said...

Thanks again for your work on translating this cake into something that celiac folks can enjoy. I'm sure many Daring Bakers appreciate that as well. :)

Sally JPA said...

Mmmmm the cake recipe sounds like a great use of my chestnut flour!

Dolores said...

Thank you so-oooo much for your assistance with this month's challenge for our alternative daring bakers. We couldn't have done it without you! :) Thanks for baking with us.

Carrie said...

Lovely Natalie as always!! you did a great job with this!!

Lauren said...

Ooo, your cake looks beautiful! I love the caramel decoration!

Anonymous said...

Natalie - I love the cupcakes very cute.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for cohosting November's challenge, as it was delicious and so enjoyable, albeit a little hard to do in a wheelchair! lo

Having said that, I made a huge boo boo. Apparently, when I posted my caramel cake and candy challenge, I accidentally checked 'private'. I just remedied the situation so my post is now viewable to all. I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out!! Just wanted to make sure you knew I did not skip it!

Finally, your cupcakes came out gorgeous! Kudos on a job well done :)

Beatrice said...

The little caramel spirals make the cupcake look like something Antoine Saint-Exupery might sketch... Very charming.

KatBouska said...

Yes please! That looks delicious!!

anna said...

Happy Christmas e happy new year 2009
Anna