mmmmmmmmmmm Caramel

Well here is the November Challenge for the Daring Bakers.



This month's Challenge is a recipe from Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater and her signature caramel cake. And just because you can never have enough caramel, you can also make Alice Medrich’s Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels, with LOTS of variation. Caramel is just about my most favourite thing, so it was a hit in this house.

Now for the important bits.

The recipe is Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting courtesy of
Shuna Fish Lydon , as published on Bay Area Bites

You can as an added option make
Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich, Artisan Press, Copyright 2007, ISBN: 978-1579652111

The hosts for the month of November are Dolores and helping her out are Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo), Jenny of Foray into Food . And since none of us know jack about alternative baking, we’ve once again turned to Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go to assist us.



The recipe for the cake is here though you will need to adjust it for metric conversion.

Now this was a challenge in parts for me - not making the cake, but making the caramel syrup - it took 4 trys :( The first one burnt, the 2nd and 3rd ones turned into toffee, but 4 time was a charm and worked great, I think next time, I would like it a bit darker in colour, but it still tasted good. Tips from David Lebovitz helped me through. The tip about a strainer above the pan before adding the water was fantastic, cause trust me the caramel goes nuts - not something I would recommend making with small children around.

Making the cake was easy, it does look curdled in parts and it does rise and then deflate after cooking. I turned mine into cupcakes *what a surprise* and I got 17 cupcakes from the mix. But this seems to vary between daring bakers, some got a bakers dozen and some 22, so it will depend on the size of your cupcake moulds. It makes a very moist cake, which actually tastes better after a couple of days, but because it's so moist the cupcake papers don't stay on, they tend to peel off.



Now for the frosting - I must confess I didn't do the brown butter thing - I don't like the taste :( So I just made buttercream as per usual, using caramel syrup and some milk to get the right consistency - I did ADD the salt, it really added an extra zing to the icing. I don't normally add salt in my baking at all except for bread. The icing was to die for, just scrummy. I also didn't do the crushed vanilla beans. I just cut two vanilla beans in half and scraped out the seeds and used those.



I even tackled the caramels, which worked out great, though getting the temperature back up after adding the cream took forever but it did get there. Next time I'd probably cook them a smidge longer for a firmer caramel and dip them into chocolate as well. I also found the oiled knife useless and just used a knife dipped in boiling water and then dried.



GOLDEN VANILLA BEAN CARAMELS
- makes eighty-one 1-inch caramels -

Ingredients
240ml golden syrup
450g cups sugar
3/8 teaspoon/2ml fine sea salt
480 ml heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons/7.5ml pure ground vanilla beans, purchased or ground in a coffee or spice grinders, or 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon/5ml pure vanilla extract
43g unsalted butter, cut into chunks, softened

Equipment
A 9-inch/23cm square baking pan
Candy thermometer

Procedure

Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with aluminum foil and grease the foil. Combine the golden syrup, sugar, and salt in a heavy 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, until the mixture begins to simmer around the edges. Wash the sugar and syrup from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes. (Meanwhile, rinse the spatula or spoon before using it again later.) Uncover the pan and wash down the sides once more. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan, without letting it touch the bottom of the pan, and cook, uncovered (without stirring) until the mixture reaches 305°F/151c. Meanwhile, combine the cream and ground vanilla beans (not the extract) in a small saucepan and heal until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep the cream hot.

When the sugar mixture reaches 305°F/151c, turn off the heat and stir in the butter chunks. Gradually stir in the hot cream; it will bubble up and steam dramatically, so be careful. Turn the burner back on and adjust it so that the mixture boils energetically but not violently. Stir until any thickened syrup at the bottom of the pan is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, to about 245°F/118c. Then cook, stirring constantly, to 260°f/127c for soft, chewy caramels or 265°F/129; for firmer chewy caramels.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, if using it. Pour the caramel into the lined pan. Let set for 4 to 5 hours, or overnight until firm.

Lift the pan liner from the pan and invert the sheet of caramel onto a sheet of parchment paper. Peel off the liner. Cut the caramels with an oiled knife. Wrap each caramel individually in wax paper or cellophane.

Variations

Fleur de Sel Caramels: Extra salt, in the form of fleur de sel or another coarse flaked salt, brings out the flavor of the caramel and offers a little ying to the yang. Add an extra scant 1/4 teaspoon of coarse sea salt to the recipe. Or, to keep the salt crunchy, let the caramel cool and firm. Then sprinkle with two pinches of flaky salt and press it in. Invert, remove the pan liner, sprinkle with more salt. Then cut and wrap the caramels in wax paper or cellophane.

Nutmeg and Vanilla Bean Caramels: Add 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg to the cream before you heat it.

Cardamom Caramels: Omit the vanilla. Add 1/2 teaspoon slightly crushed cardamom seeds (from about 15 cardamom pods) to the cream before heating it. Strain the cream when you add it to the caramel; discard the seeds.

Caramel Sauce: Stop cooking any caramel recipe or variation when it reaches 225°F/107c or, for a sauce that thickens like hot fudge over ice cream, 228°F/109. Pour it into a sauceboat to serve or into a heatproof jar for storage. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for ages and reheated gently in the microwave or a saucepan just until hot and flowing before use. You can stir in rum or brandy to taste. If the sauce is too thick or stiff to serve over ice cream, it can always be thinned with a little water or cream. Or, if you like a sauce that thickens more over ice cream, simmer it for a few minutes longer.
(recipe from Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert)