Day 334: Baked Penne and Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting
(Sorry for the crappy photo, but it was almost midnight…)
I completely forgot that I joined the Daring Bakers earlier this year, which required me to complete one baking challenge per month. Previous months were fun, but with all those birthdays and Halloween, I completely forgot October. I remembered my membership obligations last night at around midnight – just in time to check in and learn that post day is today. Phew. (Besides not wanting to miss another month – having baked last nights penne tonight, I wouldn’t otherwise have had much interesting to tell you about.)
In a nutshell – the Daring Bakers is a conglomerate of over a thousand bakers (worldwide) who take turns choosing a recipe for the lot of us to bake, which we all post on our blogs on the same day in order to compare notes. It’s actually quite fascinating to see what other people come up with using the exact same recipe. Sometimes we are given freedom of expression, sometimes we must adhere exactly to the recipe as written. It reminds me of an article in Gourmet magazine years ago, in which they gave 20 chefs, food writers and other professionals the same recipe for an angel food cake, and then took photos of the final results. Each one looked different.
The recipes we are challenged to bake typically require separate recipes to be made first in order to complete the mother recipe, and this is no exception. You have to make a dark amber caramel syrup to add to the cake and frosting, but let me tell you, it’s something tasty. It has the intense flavour of almost-burnt sugar, and I imagine it would go swimmingly on waffles. (Not that I have anything against maple syrup, you know, but just for a change. And how much does 2 cups of sugar cost compared to 2 cups of maple syrup? If youre looking to save money, don’t go for the cheap Aunt Jemima…) My fingers are still sticky from dipping them in my Pyrex measuring cupful of syrup all night.
As usual, my two cents:
– When making the caramel, make sure you dissolve the sugar completely before bringing it to a boil – if it’s sandy (that is, undissolved) it will be more prone to crystallization. Also, I wouldn’t cook it quite to the point where it’s smoking – at this point it burns almost instantly, and you don’t want your caramel burnt. Cook it until it’s the colour of teak. Dark amber. Unless you like things burnt.
– The batter will break (look curdled) when you add the milk – this is OK. It works itself out with the last addition of flour.
– My cake needed an extra 20 minutes of oven time, so over an hour total. And it was still very dense and just ever so almost underbaked (but deliciously so). I imagine this quantity of batter would bake up just fine in two 8″ or 9″ round cake pans. There is certainly enough icing for two layers.
– I daresay this is the best icing I’ve had. (I may change my mind with the next cupcake, but for now, I have decided that is my stand.) My concern is that adding vanilla might interfere – or at least compete – with the browned butter and burnt sugar (caramel) flavour. Also, I didn’t bother with the cream, but added syrup until it was the texture I was after. Very sweet, but very good.
– This is a crumby cake (not at all crumbly, but the sides will give you plenty of flies in your ointment). You might want to try a crumb coat – spread a thin layer of frosting over the surface of the entire cake, caring not at all about crumbs. Freeze until the frosting at least is solid (it doesn’t have to freeze all the way through) and then spread with another layer of frosting, the crumbs having been effectively trapped like Han Solo in carbonite.
Re: Caramels: I don’t recall ever seeing a recipe call for precisely 3/8 teaspoon of salt. But who am I to argue with Alice?
The cake sounds wonderful, but the Fleur de Sel Caramels are calling my name. Caramel is one of my favourite flavours and I really like the dark and almost burnt sugar taste best.
What do you use for golden syrup in the caramels? It is the Roger’s syrup or something else?
I enjoy reading your blog everyday and admire the fact that you are able to do so many things so well.
Wow I love caramel! I think I just might break my own rules and make my own birthday cake so I can try this one!
The fleur de sel caramels have been calling ever since I picked up Pure Desserts awhile ago. I just can’t seem to find the kid-free time required to make candy. I agree they’d make great Christmas presents…something I have to get working on soon
Enjoy Vancouver! 🙂
I loved the frosting, too. It’ll definitely be making another appearance around here. I tried to make the caramels, but I got distracted and ended up with something more like Werther’s Originals.
Save the caramels for another time J. THey are delish and well worth the effort when you have a quiet afternoon to fill.
Wow. (Can I ask a dumb blog question? I don’t know a lot about them. How long will yours be here after you stop posting? Do you close it and it disappears or does it just hang around for people to access and refer to whenever? Thank-you)
You give me caramels for Christmas, and I’ll give you caramels for Christmas.
by baking pan (in the vanilla caramel recipe), do you mean an 8 inch or a 13×9? Or a different size?
Good question. I haven’t made them yet – I’ll let you know! It’s just the recipe they gave us as an optional part of our challenge.
And it won’t disappear! (The blog, that is.)
Aha! I should have added more caramel syrup to my icing. thanks for helping me to figure that out. Good show.
My cake came out the same way– I thought I’d made a hash of it until I saw hundreds of cakes that had the exact same texture as mine. That’s why I love the daring bakers. I adored the frosting too. My husband suggested it would be good on carrot cake, and I think I agree.
I just tried baking this cake as cupcakes (which normally annoy me… except they are perfect for kids when there are no plates involved!), and it worked out very well! This recipe is definitely not for anyone who does not like super sweet. I ended up with 18, but I should have filled the liners a little more.
Thanks for posting Julie, or I wouldn’t have been interested in this one! A nice moist cake with a twist!