This week's wedding cake practice came in the form of a Carmel Cake with a Carmel Whipped Cream Frosting. Obviously this would not actually be practical for a REAL wedding cake because of the Whipped Cream Frosting but I didn't want to make two white cakes in one week. And can I tell you, this cake was superb. The flavor of the caramel was subtle but having the cool, light taste of the whipped cream made it great. As my boss said "You need to find a way to make the frosting firmer, but if you make this for the wedding, you will have a reputation." She didn't mention what kind of reputation and I didn't ask.
I also had a leftover teddy bear from my learning-how-to-sculpt-teddy-bears-that-don't-collapse-on-themselves night, so I put it on top of the cake as a sort of Valentine's Decoration, I guess, because what is more cliche than a teddy bear with red hearts for V-Day? I also had a little too much batter, so I made cupcakes to give to my favorite food critics. Happy upcoming V-Day everyone!
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Ingredients:
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 c. Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 eggs, at room temperature
Splash vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. milk, at room temperature
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 c. Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 eggs, at room temperature
Splash vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. milk, at room temperature
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Preheat oven to 350F. 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. {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. 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.
*As a random side note, learning how to sculpt things is a good idea - it helped me at a recent retreat when we played Pictionary with clay. My team didn't win, but I did get someone to guess "light" by sculpting a light bulb.
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. {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. 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.
*As a random side note, learning how to sculpt things is a good idea - it helped me at a recent retreat when we played Pictionary with clay. My team didn't win, but I did get someone to guess "light" by sculpting a light bulb.
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