My Favorite Cake Recipe

Posted: March 5, 2010 | Author: Bakezilla | Filed under: Bakezilla, delish | 3 Comments »

Howdy all. So, tonight is the next edition of Pretty Girls Get Rediculous. While I’m sure there will be a few posts regarding this, we were asked to make up recipe cards for each other. In addition to the recipes for what I’m bringing (I want to wait to post about those until I have pictures), I also made up a card for my very favorite cake recipe. This is my bombshell. It is totally a special occasion cake, as it contains a LOT of fat and sugar (which I still contend is better than the nasty processed kind, but to be eaten in moderation, nonetheless).

It is a Caramel Cake with Caramel Frosting. That’s right, the delicious candy substance we all love, in cake form. I found the recipe in The Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook, and tweaked it a bit.

For the Cake:
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 5 eggs
- ¾ cup milk (nonfat okay!)
- 2 tsp vanilla
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 9-inch round cake pans, or a sheet cake pan, with parchment.
2. I a bowl, sift the 1st 3 ingredients. In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each. Stir together the milk and vanilla in a measuring cup. Alternate adding the milk mixture and the flour mixture to the creamed mixture create a smooth batter.
3. Divide the batter evenly in the 2 pans, bake for 30 – 35 minutes, cool completely.

For the Icing:
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 3 tbs unsalted butter
- 1 cup half and half (I use the Land O’Lakes non-fat kind, but I can’t tell you how they get it to be that way).
- 1 tsp vanilla
1. In a heavy, preferably non-stick saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and half and half. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring often. Cover and cook at medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the caramel begins to thicken, about 4 minutes, being careful not to let it burn. Sometimes this can take a little longer than the recipe says, however. Just keep a close eye on it.
2. Add the vanilla and beat with an electric mixer on high until it gets thick and creamy – this takes a while, 10-15 minutes.
3. While the frosting is still warm, frost and fill the cake. Add some half-and-half if it gets too thick to spread.

I wish I had a picture, but I don’t because I’m at work and I haven’t made this in a while. It’s one of those high-maintenance-but-worth-it recipes, the frosting is particularly finicky. But, this is the one cake I make that I am sure will please all – it’s become famous in my family, and is asked for by many at various family functions.

Anyone else have any “famous” recipes to share? I’d love to see them!

Also, more posts on food I’m actually making for tonight coming later this week!