Caramel-by-the-Sea

To say that I was excited about making this months Daring Baker's challenge is to put it oh so very mildly. After a two month drought of savory items, I was thrilled to see our hosts Dolores, Alex, and Jenny had selected a cake this month!
I was initially a little disappointed in the texture of my baked goodies as they were not as light and fluffy as they aught to have been. But that is very much my fault and not due to the recipe. I was listening to Ender's Game on tape while making this, and was highly distracted by the climax of the story. So in an effort to minimize the time the mixer was running I didn't cream the butter and sugar as long as necessary. Bad bad baker. But the flavor of this cake was oh so wonderful. Very sweet, but fantastic. I added some coffee to the frosting in an effort to combat the sweetness many of the other daring bakers complained about. It helped, but if I were to make this again I think I would try a different method. Perhaps by filling the cake with a complimentary flavor. As cupcakes enjoyed with some strong coffee is was fine, but I think the caramel on caramel lacked complexity and would benefit from a stronger secondary flavor.

Caramel Cake

by Shuna Fish Lydon

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/4 Cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 Cup caramel syrup
2 eggs
splash vanilla
2 Cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1C milk, room temp

Preheat oven to 350F
Butter one tall 9" cake pan. (or make cupcakes!)

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 dries.
When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time.
Add another third of the dries, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dries.
Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds. making sure batter is uniform.

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 unrefrigerated.

Caramel Syrup

2 Cups sugar
1/2 Cup water

1 Cup water for "stopping"

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. (I instead prefer to use a very wide pan. It caramelized a bit faster that way, and it's easier to judge to colour. In a tall pan the syrup will look darker than it is, and can lead to undercaramelization)
Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush.
Turn on heat to highest flame.
Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.
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 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.}

Caramelized Brown Butter Frosting

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Pound sifted powdered sugar
4-6 Tablespoons heavy cream (I just used milk since I didn't have any cream)
2 teaspoons vanilla (I dissolved about a tablespoon of instant coffee with this)
2-4 Tablespoons caramel syrup

Cook butter until brown.
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.

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.

The recipe says to strain out the little browned butter bits, but I think they are half the charm of using browned butter, so I kept mine in.