Caramel Cake

I feel like this post needs some sort of special recognition.

Whenever someone asks me what my "specialty" is, my immediate response is, "CARAMEL CAKE!"

It is literally so perfectly good.

The cake is moist because you gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

The frosting deserves to be famous. It is a brown sugar frosting, also known as penuche.

It is made by boiling brown sugar into milk and butter.

Then you add some powdered sugar and spread it over the warm or cooled cake(s).

I am trying to find words to describe the deliciousness of this cake.

One of my most obsessed-with-caramel-cake friends, Jenna, was my sous-chef while making this.

This lady is one of my caramel cake's biggest fans. There are many other, very big fans, but she and her family can devour one the fastest...

The yellow cake base is probably the best yellow cake recipe I have ever made.

Like better than America's Test Kitchen...

You don't have to put the frosting on it, you could use anything, but... why wouldn't you use the most amazing frosting in the world...

You can stack round or square layers, but if so you can't frost the sides.

You could frost individual round or square layers and give them away separately.

Or you can just eat it straight out of a 9x13" pan.

Caramel Cake

From Birthday Cakes: Recipes and Memoirs from Celebrated Bakers
Yields about 24 Servings

Cake Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Salted Butter, room temperature
• 2 cups Sugar
• 4 Large Eggs, separated
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour your desired pan(s), you can either use 1-9x13" pan, 3-8" square pans, 3-8" round pans, or 24 muffin cups.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a larger bowl, blend the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, blending well after each addition. Scrape down the sides. Now add the flour and the milk, alternating between the two, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Whisk in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks, but not dry. Gently fold these in to the batter. 

Pour batter into pans evenly and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for about 20-40 minutes (the 9x13" pan takes about 40). The cake should be golden and a cake tester should come out clean, with no crumbs. You can make the frosting while the cake is baking.

Caramel Frosting Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Salted Butter
• 1 1/2 cups Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 4 cups Powdered Sugar

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and milk and bring the mixture to a boil. This helps dissolve the sugar so your frosting isn't grainy. Once it boils set it aside to let it cool.

When the cake comes out of the oven, add the powdered sugar to the brown sugar mixture. Wait for the cakes to cool and then spread it over the tops. This frosting is not very spreadable. You likely won't be able to get it around the sides of the cake but that is okay! It tastes PERFECT, and looks rustic!