Sugar, Sugar and More Sugar

It's Cake Slice time. Or is it time for a slice of cake? Either way, I have one for you! This is our second cake baked from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott. This months cake was a Burnt Sugar Cake which is different from caramel cake in that the burnt sugar syrup is incorporated into the cake and the frosting. In a typical caramel cake the caramel is just on the outside of the cake in the frosting while the cake itself is either white or yellow.

The burnt sugar syrup is made by melting and caramelizing white sugar then by adding boiling water to the golden goo. You then cook it down until the sugar and water become one. It took about 20 minutes for this to happen but it can be made in advance and waiting for you until you're ready to made the cake.

The cake itself was dense and sweet and slightly caramely. It was almost like the flavor of brown sugar. It was subtle in flavor but moist and delicious. The frosting came together really quickly though I thought it was way too sweet. It was like a really thick glaze in that the powdered sugar was combined with vanilla, a little butter and evaporated milk and the burnt sugar syrup. You mix it all up and frost your cake. It was simple but I didn't feel there was enough liquid in it to dissolve the sugar resulting in the texture being a little granular.

I'd make this cake again but I'd frost it with a different frosting. I wonder if it could be baked into a bundt and drizzled with a burnt sugar glaze? mmm.

Burnt Sugar Cake from Southern Cakes

printable version

Burnt Sugar Syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup boiling water

Heat the sugar in a cast iron skillet or another heavy bottomed pan with high sides. Heat over a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts into a clear brown caramel syrup. It should be the colour of tea. Gradually add the boiling water, pouring it down the sides of the pan so that if the syrup foams and bubbles up, you should be protected.

Continue cooking, stirring often, until the water combines with the syrup and turns a handsome brown syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Store the cooled syrup in a sealed jar if not using right away.

Burnt Sugar Cake:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1¾ cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (recipe above)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir with a fork to mix well. Stir the vanilla into the milk.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer at high speed for 2 – 3 minutes, until they are well combined. Stop now and then to scrape the bowl down. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well each time. Pour in half a cup of the burnt sugar syrup and beat well. Add a third of the flour mixture and about half of the milk, beating at a low speed, until just incorporated. Mix in another third of the flour and the rest of the milk. Finally, add the remaining flour.

Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched gently in the centre and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: I cut the recipe in half and baked it into 2 6-inch pans.

Burnt Sugar Frosting:

• 3¾ cups confectioners sugar
• ½ cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (above)
• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 – 3 tbsp evaporated milk or normal milk

In a large bowl, combine the confectioners sugar, the burnt sugar syrup, butter and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl now and then to bring the ingredients together. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and continue beating until the frosting is thick, soft, smooth and easy to spread. Add a little more sugar if it is thin, and a little more milk if it is too thick.

To Assemble:

Place one layer, top side down, on a cake stand or serving plate. Scoop about ¾ cup of the frosting onto the cake. Spread to the edges and place the second cake layer over it, top side down. Frost the sides of the cake, and then the top until it is evenly covered.

Be sure to visit the other Cake Slice Bakers and see how they did!

Casserole In Cake Form

I made this cake for my boss' birthday last month. She kept eyeing the sweet potato cupcakes that are in Martha's Cupcake book, but she's not a fan of cupcakes. So I took my Cinderella Pumpkin Cake and substituted the canned pumpkin for canned mashed sweet potatoes. Then I added marshmallows, pecans and a sprinkle of brown sugar, then TORCHED it!

My husband bought this butane torch for me. I've been wanting one for a while but I have a hard time buying myself anything because I always convince myself that I don't need it. We picked this one out together at Home Depot along with a butane canister. Much cheaper than if purchased from a kitchen store and just as effective. I was worried about the butane not being food safe, but I called Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table and they both recommended the Butane cartridge from the home improvement store.

I was scared to torch the marshmallows at first but it was so much fun. Even Mr. H wanted in on the action! This cake was moist and spicy and tasted like a sweet potato casserole. It was like Thanksgiving in your mouth. From the one recipe, I was able to make an 8-inch cake as well as 6 mini bundts. You could also bake this in a large bundt or tube pan and top it with a marshmallow sauce, mmm! My boss says this is her favorite cake I have made to date and she tells me every other day :-)

Sweet Potato Cake from Monica H

• 2 c. sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• 2 c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-15 oz. can mashed sweet potatoes or 2 cups baked and pureed sweet potatoes
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• mini marshmallows, brown sugar, chopped pecans for topping

Beat sugar and eggs til well blended and light in color. Add oil, continuing to beat. Combine dry ingredients to egg mixture. Add sweet potatoes, mix well. Pour into greased 9" bundt pan or 2 9-inch pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes (for bundt, less for the 9-inch pans). Let stand in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto baking rack or platter and allow to cool completely.

Top with mini marshmallows, a sprinkling of brown sugar and chopped pecans. Toast marshmallows with a kitchen torch or place cake on a cookie sheet and place under a low broiler for a minute or so until golden. Or drizzle with a simple glaze.

Whether you make this cake with sweet potatoes and top it with marshmallows and nuts or make it with pumpkin and a cream cheese frosting in bundt form, this cake is moist and delicious and would be perfect at Thanksgiving.

National Bundt Day

It's National Bundt Day! And I didn't want to miss out of this holiday (?) so I'm scheduling this to post while I'm away for the weekend. My aunt is getting married this weekend so while you're reading this, chances are I'm all wrapped up in flowers, weightless organza and cake (yummy cake!) 500 miles away!

Before I begin this post I want to tell you about my beautiful Bundt. My husband (then boyfriend) bought this for me for our first Christmas together. He took me to William-Sonoma for my very first time and he took me to see all the marvelous, expensive pans. He said his mom sent him there to pick out a gift for his aunt for Christmas and he wanted my opinion. So we looked through them and I picked my favorite, the Star Bundt Pan. On Christmas Day as I was opening my gifts I got to this one and was confused. I really thought I had opened the wrong gift and I tried to give it back. So to say that I was surprised was an understatement :-) Isn't she pretty?

I have to say the only reason I knew about National Bundt Day is because of the Food Librarian. If you haven't been over there to check out her 30 Days of Bundts, you must check them out immediately! Her collection of Bundt recipes is quite impressive. Funny thing, this recipe, Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt, also comes from her site.

Cinnamon combined with chocolate is one my favorite flavor combinations, really the only thing that could make it better is to add cream cheese! Anyone got a recipe combining all three- that would be a jackpot?! This cake was really good and so so moist. I do think it could have used a touch more cinnamon so I'd add a bit more next time. Otherwise the cake was great.

Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

from Food Librarian via Sing For Your Supper

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large bundt pan with cooking spray.

Put butter, water, oil, and cocoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well. Then, add the buttermilk and baking soda. Mix together the eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small bowl, and add to the batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan.Bake 25 minutes. Allow cake to cool completely in the pan.

Happy National Bundt Day! Make and eat a bundt!

Need a bundt? Give these a try:

• Blueberry Sour Cream Bundt Cake
• Dr. pepper Bundt Cake
• Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
• German Chocolate Cake Bundt
• Lemon Pound Cake Bundt with Berries
• Cinderella (Pumpkin) Bundt Cake
• Blueberry Pound Cake Bundt

Lovely Lady Bundts

Sunday is National Bundt Day! I have another bundt lined up for then, but here's one I made a while back from Coleen of Coleen's Recipes. She makes a bit of everything and if you haven't been to her blog, head on over there now. And she updates with 5 new recipes a week- that's dedication!

This is a VERY moist sour cream bundt cake loaded with blueberries. Running through the center of the bundt and on the bottom is a nutty cinnamon streusel and to gild the lily is a simple powdered sugar glaze :-) I liked this bundt and thought it was really simple to make. The flavors were all really tasty and there's a bit of lemon zest in it to brighten things up.

There's a lot of yummy goodness in this bundt, but I thought it was a tad too sweet for my liking. I would make this again but I don't think it needs the streusel or the glaze. It's perfectly perfect on it's own. If you want to add the streusel, I suggest reducing the amount of sugar in the bundt and leaving off the glaze. But do what you like. That's the beauty of the bundt.

Blueberry Sour Cream Bundt from Coleen's Recipes

Cake:

• 1 cup butter, room temp.
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour a 9" bundt pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs one at a time; stir in sour cream, vanilla and lemon zest. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir it into the butter mixture until well blended; fold in blueberries.Spoon half of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture over the batter in the pan & top with the second half of the batter. Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar mixture over the top of everything. Gently swirl a butter knife through the batter a couple of times to irregularly distribute the brown sugar pecan layer. At this point I added a few more blueberries for color, which is completely optional.

Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes in preheated oven. Cool cake (in the pan) on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake plate. Cool completely before glazing, optional.

NOTE: The glaze I made was just a mixture of powdered sugar and a little vanilla extract and milk. I used about 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Add more milk to thin or more sugar to thicken.

See you back here on Sunday for another bundt!

PUMPing It Up!

This is the 5th cupcake I've made along with Ingrid from 3 B's out of Martha's Cupcakes. First we made Cookies and Cream Mini Cheesecakes, then Black Forest Cupcakes, Orange Glazed Strawberry Jam Tea Cakes, Tres Leches Cupcakes and now Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes!

These were my choice because I wanted something simple that didn't require making a frosting and I wanted something quick and seasonal. These filled the bill and I think Ingrid liked them too. At the last minute I decided not to make the brown butter glaze for these because I needed them to travel well and I didn't want the glaze melting in the heat of the car. It was 80 degrees here on Saturday.

So I made a couple changes, I omitted the sage, added pumpkin pie spice because I didn't have cloves, and added cinnamon chips and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar to the top. These were so good. The recipe made 15 cupcakes and I gave a dozen of them away to a couple friends of mine that I met up with this past weekend. So Aaron, Mr. H and I each got one. They were rich and sweet, spicy and so moist. The pumpkin and the brown butter flavors were definitely apparent and the cinnamon chips added a nice sweetness and texture to the cupcakes.

I definitely plan on making these again using the original recipe with the brown butter glaze. I have posted both recipes below so you can make whichever version you prefer! You should definitely give these a try. Head on over to Ingrid's to check out her brown butter glazed version.

Pumpkin Brown Butter & Cinnamon Chip Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup homemade pumpkin puree
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup cinnamon chips, plus more for sprinkling on top
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place muffin liners in tin and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned bits behind; let cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined. Fold in cinnamon chips until evenly distributed. Top each cupcake with a few more cinnamon chips and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (about 1/8 teaspoon per cupcake).

Divide the batter evenly among lined cups, filling each one 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing (recipe follows), then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Makes 15 cupcakes

Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes from Martha's Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, cut into a chiffonade (optional)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place muffin liners in tin or butter and flour and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.Add the sage if desired, and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned bits behind; let cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly among lined cups, filling each one 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing (recipe follows), then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Makes 15 cupcakes

NOTE: Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen (unglazed) for up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Brown Butter Icing

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until nut-brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour butter into bow, leaving any burned sediment behind.

Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk to brown butter, stir til smooth. If necessary, add more milk (up to 2 more tablespoons) a little at a time, just until icing is spreadable. Use immediately.

Congratulations to #26- Christy from Christy's Kitchen Creations and #53- Tamilyn from Butter My Kitchen. They are the lucky winners of my giveaway! You'll both be receiving the McCormick Holiday Baking Pack and a bag of Hershey's Cinnamon Chips. Send me your address and I'll get them out to you as soon as I can.

What will you bake up with these goodies? Maybe these cupcakes? Inquiring minds want to know! Congrats ladies!