Caramel Layer Cake

One of my all-time favorite movies is The Help. Based on the book by Kathryn Stockett, the movie is emotionally touching, yet full of charming wit. One of my favorite characters in the movie is Minnie Jackson. Minnie's character makes me laugh until I cry, and she is famous for her caramel cake. I couldn't wait to make my own version of this incredibly sweet traditional Southern cake. I made a layer cake, added a caramel filling, and came up with a delicious cream cheese frosting that helps balance out the sweetness of the caramel. The four cake layers are moist and not overly sweet. If you are in the mood for a fat slice of cake and tall glass of milk, this cake will certainly satisfy your sweet tooth!

CARAMEL LAYER CAKE
1 cup butter (room temperature)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1/2 cup light sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla.

Add flour, salt, baking powder, milk, and light sour cream and beat until combined.

Pour equal amounts of batter into 2 prepared pans.

Bake for 33 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and cake springs back when poked.

Cake recipe from Scrumpdillyicious

CARAMEL FILLING
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg
12 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup light sour cream
4 ounces cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla

Heat 1/2 cup of sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until it turns golden brown.

In a separate large saucepan over medium heat, melt together 8 tbsp. of the butter, egg, milk, light sour cream, and the remaining 2 cups of sugar.

Add the browned sugar to the large saucepan with the rest of the ingredients.

Let simmer over medium heat for about 12 minutes, stirring continuously with a heat proof spatula.

Remove caramel from heat.

In large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, 4 tbsp. butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add the caramel mixture and beat until well mixed. Allow to cool slightly.

CARAMEL CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
8 ounces cream cheese
4 tbsp. butter (room temperature)
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup caramel filling (from recipe above)

Beat the cream cheese and butter.

Gradually add the powdered sugar.

Add 1/4 cup of the caramel filling mixture to the frosting.

CAKE ASSEMBLY

Once the cake is completely cool, cut each cake in half horizontally using a serrated knife.

If the caramel filling has cooled completely, warm it in the microwave until it is a spreadable consistency.

Layer the cake with the caramel filling. Reserve some of the caramel filling to drizzle on the top of the cake.

Spread the frosting on the entire top and sides of the cake.

Drizzle the reserve caramel filling on the top of the cake.

Optional - pipe large star drops of frosting on the outer edge of the top of the cake using a decorating tip.


ENJOY!

Thanksgiving Treats!

It is surreal to be home for Thanksgiving after being away for three months for my first semester in college! Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holidays to spend time with family, and after being away at school, I was especially looking forward to sharing food and fun times with my relatives. I also like getting together for the holidays because it gives me an excuse to bake! With little time to pick out a recipe and start baking, I turned to my Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. If you followed my blog over the summer, you know that many of my posts came from this this trusty cookbook. Well, I am pleased to say, I ended up with another fool proof, delicious dessert! I knew that my other relatives would be bringing fruit pies and pumpkin desserts, so I opted for the chocolate brownie route. But these are no ordinary brownies, no, they are made with caramel, peanut butter chips, and toasted pecans. So even after filling up on turkey and casseroles galore, my relatives were able to make room for these decadent brownies.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES WITH CARAMEL, PEANUT BUTTER, AND PECANS
printable recipe

CRUST
2 1/4 graham cracker crumbs (about 16 full graham crackers)
1 1/2 sticks butter (melted)

CARAMEL FIlLLING
1 pound caramels
1/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup pecans (coarsely chopped and toasted in the oven at 350  degrees for about 10 minutes).

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

BROWNIE
1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease 9x13 inch pan.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into greased pan to serve as crust.

Melt the caramels and heavy cream over low heat until smooth. Pour over crust.

Sprinkle toasted pecans and peanut butter chips over caramel.

Melt unsweetened chocolate and butter in medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Pour chocolate into medium bowl and add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until combined.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture until combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the pan over the other ingredients.

Bake for 40 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Recipe from: The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

My mom and sister also took on a baking project of their own that was too cute not to share! These turkeys are made out of candy and Oreos, and they are, of course, a Pinterest find!

Enjoy!

Caramel Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I am a lover of all things sweet and salty. If you share my passion for this flavor composition, you are sure to love these cupcakes. The cupcake is made with brown sugar and pairs nicely with the salty caramel drizzle on the top of the cupcake. The frosting is pure peanut butter perfection. If you have followed my other cupcake posts, you know that I never leave cupcakes unadorned. At the last minute, I came up with the idea to make caramelized peanuts to put on the top of each cupcake.

CUPCAKES
printable recipe
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick (1/2 cup room temperature) butter
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream butter and brown sugar.

Add eggs and mix well.

Add salt, baking powder, and half of flour.

Add buttermilk and mix until combined.

Add remaining flour, and mix well.

Divide batter into 15 lined muffin tins.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from pans and allow to cool completely.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
6 tbsp. butter (room temperature)
2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Milk to achieve desired consistency (about 1/2 cup)

Cream butter and peanut butter.

Add vanilla and salt.

Gradually add powdered sugar by 1/2 cup, alternating with splash of milk until desired consistency is achieved.

Frost cooled cupcakes.

SALTED CARAMEL DRIZZLE
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. heavy cream

Melt the sugar over medium high heat and whisk until it is completely melted and amber in color. Add butter and stir until melted. Pour in heavy cream and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remove form heat and allow to cool.

CARAMELIZED  PEANUTS
30-40 peanuts
1/4 cup sugar

Place peanuts and sugar in small skillet pan over medium heat. Allow to cook until sugar dissolves and sticks to peanuts. Allow to cool. Break apart to put on cupcakes.

Pipe frosting on cooled cupcakes. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Place a caramelized peanut on top.

Yields 15 cupcakes

Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Salty Caramel Ice Cream

WARNING: This ice cream is extremely addicting! The vanilla and the caramel are the perfect duo. I served this alongside my Old Fashioned Apple Pie, and as good as the pie was, everyone came back to get second servings of the ice cream. I bought pint sized containers that I could fill with this ice cream to give out to friends and relatives during the holidays, and it was a wonderful gift. The ice cream is essentially two different recipes that are layered once completed. If using an ice cream machine where it is necessary to refreeze the canister, you can make both recipes on day one, freeze the vanilla in the ice cream maker on day one, and then freeze the caramel on day two.

VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM:

3 cups half-and-half

2 cups sugar

8 egg yolks

3 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean split and scraped

Heat the half-and-half, sugar, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Whisk the egg yolks.

Pour half of the heated half-and-half mixture into the egg yolks while continually whisking (this is called tempering the eggs and will prevent them from cooking when added to the hot pan later).

Pour the egg mixture back into the large saucepan over medium heat. Continually stir with a rubber spatula until the mixture thickens (may take between 5 and 10 minutes). The mixture will become very thick, but stop cooking before you see any chunks of cooked egg visible.

Pour into bowl with heavy cream and stir until combined. Chill and then freeze in ice cream maker. I had to freeze in two batches, as all of the mixture would not fit in my ice cream maker.

Put the completed ice cream in the freezer and allow to get firmer overnight or for 8 hours.

Makes about 2 quarts.

SALTY CARAMEL ICE CREAM:

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups whipping cream

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup whole milk

3 eggs

First, to make the caramel, heat 1 cup of sugar in a large saucepan. Use a long handles metal spoon to continually stir until the sugar turns dark amber. 

Add 1 1/4 cups whipping cream. The mixture will bubble and is very hot. Be careful not to burn your skin while continually stirring. 

Once all of cream and sugar is combined and most of the bubble dissipate, transfer to a glass bowl and add vanilla extract and sea salt. Allow to cool.

In a large sauce pan, heat while milk, 1 cup of whipping cream, and 1/4 cup of sugar just to a boil. 

Whisk eggs in a bowl. Add half of hot mixture to eggs while continually whisking. Once incorporated pour all of contents back into saucepan over medium heat and stir until liquid reaches 170 degrees (or until mixture begins to leave a thin film on rubber spatula). 

Pour contents of saucepan into a bowl. Stir in the caramel. Chill the mix and freeze in ice cream maker.

Place in freezer to allow to get firmer. The caramel ice cream is very rich and not as firm and icy as the vanilla. This is okay because when layered with the vanilla, it has the perfect texture to complement the texture of the vanilla ice cream.

Makes about 1 quart.

MAKING THE VANILLA BEAN SALTY CARAMEL DUO:

Layer the completed vanilla bean ice cream with the salty caramel ice cream. Use a rubber spatula to help spread the ice cream. 

Total yield: about 3 quarts.

Enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes

Happy New Year! I can already tell that 2012 is going to be an exciting year, and I am looking forward all that lies ahead. I have officially been writing this blog for five months now, and I can's wait to continue sharing my baking endeavors with you.  If you remember, I posted about these mini bundt pans that I received as a Christmas present, and I was dying to try them out. I decided to make these mini pumpkin bundt cakes because the recipe promised to yield very moist little cakes. There is nothing worse than biting into a dry bundt cake. I am always ready to try a new dessert with pumpkin, as it is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with. I used my favorite salty caramel sauce to drizzle on top!

MINI PUMPKIN BUNDT CAKES
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
5.1 oz box of instant vanilla pudding mix
15 oz. pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat sugar, brown sugar, and oil together in large bowl. Add eggs, mixing well after each addition.

In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pudding mix.

Alternate adding pumpkin and dry ingredients to the sugar, oil, and egg mixture. Mix well.

Fill greased mini bundt pans (I always use baking spray that contains flour) 2/3 full with batter. The cakes will rise a lot while baking.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, but do not over bake! The cakes will start pulling away from the edges of the pan when they are done and inserted toothpick will come out clean.

Allow to cool so that you can use your hands to remove them from the pan and place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!