Caramel Cake Quest

A friend asked me for a caramel cake recipe. I had not baked a caramel cake in over 20 years. I remember baking the cake with a friend. She always made everyone we worked with their favorite dessert for their birthday. She lived with me for a while when my husband was away on training and she was separating from her husband. During that time we made many desserts and one of them was a caramel cake. It was for one of the big bosses. When he tasted it he said it was just like his grandmother’s caramel cake. So nice to make something for someone and it brings back memories of their loved ones.

I searched for the recipe for the cake I baked years ago. I looked through all my old cookbooks and recipes and could not find it. I think it was because I made the cake and she made the frosting and I did not keep the recipe. The next step was to find a recipe, bake the cake, make the frosting, and give it a taste.

For this cake I used two recipes; one for the cake and one for the frosting. The recipe for the cake is the Classic Yellow Cake from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. The cake turned out exactly what I wanted. It was moist and had almost the consistency of a pound cake. I know I will use this recipe again.

The frosting recipe was a simple one with brown sugar, butter, milk, salt, vanilla, and confectioner’s sugar. The butter, salt, and brown sugar are cooked in a saucepan with the other ingredients added later. I figured the cooking process would give it a nice caramel flavor. I frosted the cake, took some photos, and invited my friend to come and give it a taste.

The cake tasted like a brown sugar cake with a hint of caramel. My friend commented: “Wow! That’s a sugar rush”. Yes, indeed. If you love brown sugar or want a cake to deliver a total sugar rush then send me an email and I will send you the recipe for the frosting.  I could see it being a big hit with kids. Not so much if you are expecting caramel.

(You can send me an email using the form on my About page)

The quest for a caramel cake recipe has begun. It is a holiday weekend coming up and I will be spending time in the kitchen baking and trying recipes. I might as well spend the holiday doing something I truly enjoy.

Live and learn. The best things and knowledge can come from failures. I found a great yellow cake recipe. I had the pleasure of baking. I will have more fun during this quest for an awesome caramel cake. Not everything turns out as planned. Take the good, forget the bad, and keep going!

What have you attempted with not so good results? Any real disasters? I would love to hear all about it.