Daring Bakers Challenge : Caramel Cake with Caramelised Butter Frosting
Caramel. The ultimate expression of the potential of sugar.
(The above line works better if you imagine Jean-Luc Picard saying it)
–
In a move as wildly unanticipated as black beans in brownies, I have recently found myself obsessed with listening to Guns and Roses. This is surprising even for me, because I have never really rated them too highly in the past. In their heyday, the only GnR-related things that ever registered on my radar were Slash’s hair, and Stephanie Seymour walking down the aisle in November Rain.
Now, I can’t stop listening to them. I’ve become an instant fan (just add sugar..) and even found myself arguing with B the other day over whether November Rain was on Appetite for Destruction. He insisted no. “And I should know,” he said, “I’ve listened to that album millions of times.” “So have I,” I countered, “I listened to them millions of times.. erm..yesterday!” Of course, it turns out the track is on Use your Illusion I.
Anyway, Appetite for Destruction makes for great baking music. Or maybe it doesn’t. Perhaps I was sufficiently distracted by the music to calculate my conversions wrongly (darn cup measures!). Perhaps it was the mistaken double amount of butter I incorporated into my cake mix, or the extra flour, but I don’t think the end result was as originally intended. Mind you, the cake still turned out well, with a lovely caramel flavour, but it wasn’t anything to get too excited about.
So, I’m putting this one down as a “glad I made this, but probably wouldn’t be tempted to repeat it again!” challenge. As for decorations, I wasn’t feeling too inspired when it came to making this cake, probably because I had already been making quite a few cakey related things this month, so I went for a simple round cake, split it and slathered on the thinest scraping of vanilla cream, then topped it with some hazelnut macarons (my best attempt to date, of an adapted Paco Torreblanca recipe) sandwiched with the leftover frosting and chocolate ganache.
Meanwhile, I’m sitting back with another macaron and a cup of tea, wishing someone would take me down to the Paradise City…
Caramel Cake with Caramelised Butter Frosting :
(Note: I realised after putting the cake into the oven that I had stuffed up my conversions, so the cake recipe below is the original unconverted recipe, cup measures and all.)
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
splash vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature
Preheat oven to 176′C.
Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.
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.
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, 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:
392g sugar
125g water
250g water (for “stopping” the caramelisation 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.
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.
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.}
CARAMELISED BUTTER FROSTING:
180g unsalted butter
453g icing 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 icing 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 icing sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.
Note: Caramelised 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
(This month’s DB challenge recipe was brought to you by Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater, as selected by the wonderful Dolores of Culinary Curiosity and co-hosted by Alex and Jenny. Thanks guys!)
Tags: cake, caramel, Daring Bakers, macaron
Caitlin said,
November 29, 2008 @ 1:33 am
Your cake turned out beautifully – a bit darker and denser than mine, which I’m jealous about. I made macarons to go with mine too, and also ended up just having the macarons with tea
linda said,
November 29, 2008 @ 1:59 am
I used to convert everything but stopped doing that after a couple of month’s of being a DB-er. Now I only convert butter (do people actually use cups and tbs to measure this? It’s so messy.)
Too bad the cake turned out a bit differently but it sure looks delicious and beautiful! From what I’ve seen on the DB forum yours is the prettiest I’ve seen. Love the macaroon decoration.
Haven’t even started on mine yet, will do tonight…
Cakelaw said,
November 29, 2008 @ 6:57 am
Lovely cake Lemonpi! It looks like a caramel mud cake, so maybe the extra butter was serendipitous. The maracarons of course look gorgeous – I am still too in awe of macarons to have attemtped them. I love the filmclip for November Rain – it’s a mini movie with a plot.
Aran said,
November 29, 2008 @ 7:31 am
it turned out gorgeous Y! I love how you paired it with macarons!
cyn said,
November 29, 2008 @ 8:13 am
yr presentation looks great as usual! me love a good, nutty macaron anytime.
Lisa said,
November 29, 2008 @ 8:53 am
The cake looks fantastic but the macarons, wow!
Baking Soda said,
November 29, 2008 @ 9:01 am
Density and gravity… still makes a wonderful presentation together with light and airy macarons! I agree, although my kids came asking for more more and more.
Marija said,
November 29, 2008 @ 9:20 am
I wasn’t very happy with the cake also. But yours is beautiful!
Lorraine E said,
November 29, 2008 @ 9:37 am
Looks fantastic even without the macarons but the addition of them makes it so chic! Ooh imagine the cake with some caramel macarons! OK now I’m just getting a sugar craving
clumbsycookie said,
November 29, 2008 @ 9:54 am
The presentacion of your cake is soooo elegant. But I think I would stick with the macarrons too, they’re gorgeous!
Rosa said,
November 29, 2008 @ 10:32 am
Fantastic! Really pretty! I love the macarons!
Cheers,
Rosa
Christy said,
November 29, 2008 @ 11:22 am
Oooh…look at that cake….drools….
Ok, now that I’ve picked my jaw up, I love the beautiful simplicity of your cake!! A dusting of cocoa powder and strategic placement of a few perfect macarons can do so much to a cake!!
maybelles mom (feeding maybelle) said,
November 29, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
Yours is always on the most lovely entries and the first that I look out for on reveal day. I love the disparity between this refined cake and GNR.
courtney said,
November 29, 2008 @ 2:21 pm
That cake looks beautiful. So perfect and yet simple. Im impressed.
Dolores said,
November 29, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Hmm. Guns and Roses as baking music… I may have to explore that.
I’m sorry this one isn’t a repeater, but I’m glad you tried it and I LOVE the way you decorated it. Thanks for baking with us this month.
megan said,
November 29, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Beautiful cake but I, like everyone else, wishes I had a macaron.
Hannah said,
November 29, 2008 @ 4:44 pm
I didn’t think you could top the sweetness of a caramel cake, but throw on some macarons, and I think you just did right there! Absolutely lovely, too.
rainbowbrown said,
November 29, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
Of course it’s on Use your Illusion 1. Well now you’ve just got to listen to that album even more (it’s better than Appetite anyway). Your cake looks rather decadent. Nice.
Chris said,
November 29, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
Wow…I always look forward to see how you’ll present the challenges. This is beautiful! The macarons give it that added “I want” effect!
Great job!
Foodie Froggy said,
November 29, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
Wow, looks totally different from all the others DB’s cakes but it is awesome !
jo said,
November 29, 2008 @ 7:17 pm
Oh my, your cake looks so beautiful and I love the macaroons added as decoration. Beautiful pictures and presentation.
Irene said,
November 29, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
I don’t know about the taste, but the presentation is absolutely delicious. I want to steal a macaron. And I don’t even like macarons! And for the record, *everything* is better if Jean-Luc Picard is saying it!
Jude said,
November 29, 2008 @ 8:56 pm
Funny that we have the same memories of GnR. You can add that freaky thing axl rose does with his hips while singing.
Adi said,
November 29, 2008 @ 9:16 pm
Hi Lemonpi,
Theses macarons look lovely! Could you post the recipe or link to it?
Thanks!!
Miri said,
November 30, 2008 @ 1:59 am
The cake looks wonderful, despite the gnr incident and the measuring mess it caused
And so do these marvelous macarons!
Michelle said,
November 30, 2008 @ 4:13 am
Heh. I’m not a big GnR fan… but check the title of my most recent post.
Your cake is still gorgeous… and love the macaroons!
Sara said,
November 30, 2008 @ 4:19 am
i liked the cake, but wouldn’t rush to make it again. but your cake looks great, as do those macarons!
Vera said,
November 30, 2008 @ 4:44 am
The cake does look great, Y! As well as the macaroons!
Tartelette said,
November 30, 2008 @ 4:53 am
Looks gorgeous! Love it paired with the macarons! Well done again Y!
Aparna said,
November 30, 2008 @ 4:57 am
Maybe the cake didn’t turn out quite well, texturewise but your presentation is gorgeous.
Thip said,
November 30, 2008 @ 5:45 am
Y, I also made macaroons with the left-over frosting too.
Eileen said,
November 30, 2008 @ 6:38 am
WOW! fantastic
lisa from dandysugar said,
November 30, 2008 @ 7:10 am
Your cake presentation is lovely……. I also love your little macarons!
Vibi said,
November 30, 2008 @ 9:25 am
That sure is one beautiful piece of cake! …and what to say about the macarons… frankly everything is so nice, although I know it was extremely sweet, I would still be tempted to drive myself into a diabetic coma for such divine looking sweets! Absolutely amazing!
Sophie said,
November 30, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
Well, I certainly think this dessert came out lovely, topping or no topping
! I’m the same way when it comes to music…sometimes I’ll even bust out a ‘tape’ or I’ll start listening to music I never listened to before but somehow feel nostalgic for 
!
Zoë François said,
November 30, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
Macarons are an exquisite way to use up the left over frosting, what a wonderful idea and perfectly done!
Shari said,
November 30, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
Looks delicious! I’ve never made macarons, but I intend to. Yours look great! I don’t have any leftover frosting, but I should make some more. I bet it was good with these macarons.
ELRA said,
November 30, 2008 @ 3:25 pm
So far, this is the best decorated cake I’ve seen on this challenge. Love those macarons too.
tanya said,
November 30, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
Looks absolutely beautiful! I’ve never made macarons, but I am dying to try it out!
God I loved G’nR when I was younger. I remember watching their video for Paradise City when I was really young and was in love.
CookiePie said,
November 30, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
Wasn’t my favorite either… but your cake looks really fabulous!
Gretchen Noelle said,
November 30, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Everything you made looks just superb!
bex said,
December 1, 2008 @ 9:02 am
The presentation is beautiful!
Regina said,
December 1, 2008 @ 10:21 am
The dusting of cocoa powder is such an elegant idea! Love the idea of baking to GnR. And to channel Jean-Luc Picard… well, I’m a fan.
Elle said,
December 1, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Perhaps the music was a distraction, but the cake still looks fab.
Chef_d said,
December 1, 2008 @ 6:11 pm
WOW!!! as always your cake looks sooooo beautiful!!
morgana said,
December 1, 2008 @ 8:33 pm
Beautiful cake!!!
celine said,
December 1, 2008 @ 10:58 pm
you aced it, Y.
grace said,
December 2, 2008 @ 12:49 am
wow, that sucker’s dense. i’m pretty sure you’ve created a perfect slice of cake–bravo.
sandra said,
December 2, 2008 @ 3:11 am
oh this is awesome! love it with the macarons!
as for the cake, i’m totally with you: the caramel syrup was so tasteful and delicious, I thought it would make the cake taste the same. Well, it did not.
Marysol said,
December 3, 2008 @ 1:25 am
You never cease to amaze. I should be having breakfast right not, but only a piece of that cake and maybe one or two macarons would satisfy this hungry beast.
Y, come on overto my side, I have a little something for you.
matt wright said,
December 3, 2008 @ 5:05 am
absolutely incredible looking. Your blog just keeps getting better and better, one of my favorites out there.
Out of interest, do you prefer working with weights or volumes for baking? Coming for the UK the whole cup measurement thing seems crazy inaccurate to me – seems odd measuring dry things by volume.
Leonor de Sousa Bastos said,
December 3, 2008 @ 8:17 am
Your cake looks beautiful!!
I love your twist on this month’s DB challenge…
veggiebelly said,
December 3, 2008 @ 1:45 pm
What a beautiful cake! Your pictures are gorgeous!
Erik said,
December 3, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Hmmm – Welcome to the Jungle and melting sugar – what an interesting combination! Your cake looks fantastic! Well done.
cakebrain said,
December 3, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
I love your pics! They make me so hungry! and more importantly, they’re inspirational! Your macarons in particular are very handsome…I have a special place in my heart/stomach for them!
Y said,
December 3, 2008 @ 4:57 pm
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the comments
I’ve been a bit slow to check out the other DB creations out there, but am gradually making the rounds, I promise.
Adi: I’m afraid that particular macaron recipe belongs to someone I know and I’m not authorised to give it out, sorry! If you’re looking for a place to start though, Duncan’s articles on macarons are very detailed :
http://www.syrupandtang.com/200712/la-macaronicite-1-an-introduction-to-the-macaron/
Christie @ fig&cherry said,
December 3, 2008 @ 9:59 pm
Oh dear lord my heart stopped.
Jodie said,
December 4, 2008 @ 4:47 am
Gorgeous cake! I never thought I’d read Guns N Roses and caramel in the same blog post.
Mão na Massa said,
December 4, 2008 @ 8:14 am
Hello!
I really adore your blog! Its delicious and fantastic!
I’m a FAN!
Good Job!
Kisses =)
arfi said,
December 4, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
i like the second photo. love the compo. caramel cake sounds really sweet. my hubby would love that without me interfering hehehe i guess i am not that a sweet tooth.
marika @ madcap said,
December 4, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
A few things. First, what a beautiful plate of cake you have there. LOVE the macarons with it. Second – I agree, that line rolls right off the tongue with Jean-Luc in mind. Three, Appetite for Destruction is one the best albums of all time – great for driving, why not baking? Makes sense.
Angela said,
December 5, 2008 @ 2:24 am
Jean-Luc Picard and Guns N’Roses, all in the same post? Now that’s an unexpected pairing!
Your cake looks fantastic and so elegant with the addition of the macarons. Yum!
JacqueOH said,
December 5, 2008 @ 12:21 pm
LOL, GnR rocks! So many great songs…. sigh…
Anyway, your caramel cake looks so perfect. You know how to make a dessert look inviting, that’s for sure.
I have deep respect for anyone brave enough to try macarons AND master them as you have.
Nice work!
Kat said,
December 5, 2008 @ 9:10 pm
It looks perfect! By any chance can you post your recipe for the macarons? I’ve been toying with them for months and still have no luck in getting them as poofy as yours :\
Y said,
December 5, 2008 @ 11:48 pm
Hi Kat! Sorry, that particular recipe belongs to someone I know and I’m not allowed to give it out. What recipe are you using at the moment though? Also, have you tried Duncan’s site for tips on making macarons? I mention the link several comments above.
the caked crusader said,
December 8, 2008 @ 8:21 pm
Wow. Now I need to wipe my drool off the keyboard. Thanks!
maryann said,
December 10, 2008 @ 3:16 am
haha..great post. And the cake doesn’t look bad at all!
Helen said,
December 10, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
Wow, your expertise with desserts is always amazing. Those macarons. *sigh* Utter perfection.
In-between baking demands, perhaps you’d like to spread some meme cheer? I’ve tagged you for the 6 random things meme. Hope you’ll join in the fun
Mandy said,
December 12, 2008 @ 2:05 am
Good job on the challenge. You make the slice of cake so chic. Just curious, between the macaron and cake, which one do you like better?
Arwen from Hoglet K said,
December 12, 2008 @ 1:16 pm
Shame Jean-Luc Picard wasn’t into food. Neelix is the only one who comes to mind, and his food was aweful!