Daring Bakers, Shuna and Her Caramel Cake

It is time once again for the monthly Daring Bakers challenge, which I am very excited about because it comes from none other than pastry chef extraordinaire, Shuna Fish Lydon. Shuna has an amazing curriculum as a pastry chef and is the voice behind the blog Eggbeater, one of my daily reads. Her blog is filled with intelligent social and culinary commentary, photography and modern poetry. I had the pleasure to meet Shuna earlier this year and got a glimpse of where her artistry comes from.

When I learned we would be making her caramel cake for this month’s challenge, I was jumping up and down with joy because this cake had so much buzz around it. This is what I would call a true American cake. Sweet, moist and buttery.

I really wanted to be true to the recipe as it was presented to us and the only small addition was a bit of orange zest to the cake batter. I wanted to play around with the decorations in the cake and I ended up making two versions of it. The first one is surrounded by baked meringue sticks and decorated with candied orange slices and pulled caramel paper. The second one is decorated with piped buttercream dots, candied orange, chocolate shavings and poured caramel.

All recipes by Shuna Fish Lydon

Caramel Syrup

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for “stopping” the caramelization 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.}

Caramel 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 each 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 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.

Caramelized Butter Frosting

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s 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 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

A big thank you to Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex of Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo and Jenny of Foray into Food for hosting this month’s challenge. Please visit other Daring Bakers to see other interpretations of this cake.