I’ve missed the Daring Bakers! When I took a bit of a sabbatical from food blogging, I also took a break from the Daring Bakers. But I’m back and just in time for a sugar rush! Challenge hosts Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex from Blondie and Brownie, Jenny of Foray into Food and Natalie of Gluten A Go Go found what can only be described as a dentist’s worst nightmare. This month’s challenge recipe is Shuna Fish Lydon’s Caramel Cake, as published on the Bay Area Bites blog, an ode to sugar at its finest. It’s a cake…with caramel in the batter…topped with a carmelized buttercream. My teeth ached just reading the recipe. For my first challenge back in the saddle, however, this was an easy yet versatile recipe…even more so since I turned them into cupcakes.

My love of cupcakes is pretty well known (some would call it obsessive, but I ignore such rudeness), so when I saw the challenge didn’t specifically call for us DBers to make a cake, I decided to use the batter for cupcakes. Before I started baking, I read over the experiences of other DBers, a majority of whom said both the cake and the frosting were VERY sweet. Considering I don’t even like caramel, I knew I was going to have to reduce some of the sugar in the recipe to make it palatable. With this adjustment in mind, I got out Big Red and started in on the cupcakes the day before my Thanksgiving feast.

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan or 2 muffin tins lined with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan or muffin tins.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

If making the cupcakes, bake for 15 minutes, rotate the tins and bake for another 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for “stopping” the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back. NOTE: I took a tip from a fellow DBer and placed aluminum foil over the sauce pan with a small hole to pour water through in the middle. Then I poured the water through the hole slowly, thus keeping the splattering (and HOT) caramel from flying out and burning me.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste (I used 1 teaspoon of the salt to cut the sweetness of the frosting)

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner’s sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner’s sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light.

The cake was very moist and delicious, if a bit on the sweet side (next time I would reduce the sugar to a 1/2 cup total). Not only that, the entire thing was a breeze to make from start to finish, including the frosting! Hands down the best recipe to bring me back into the Daring Bakers fold!

I woke up early Saturday morning (6:46 am to be exact), staring straight up at the ceiling and thinking of all the things I had to do. Because this was no ordinary Saturday…no sir. It was Liz’s surprise birthday party Saturday and much needed to be done to fool the Tall One (I call her that…and not just in my head either). The thing is, Liz is a very clever girl…so clever that she almost ruined her own birthday party with repeated requests to stay at home and chill out on Saturday night instead of heading to Finn MacCool’s – the scene of the crime. Yup, she was proving to be a hard nut to crack…but either way, I had cupcakes to make! So in the early morning hours, I pulled out my cake flour, Big Red and enough butter to grease a runway to make the ultimate Red Velvet Redskins Cupcakes!

Anyone who has read Liz’s blog, “What Liz Said”, knows she is a HUGE Washington Redskins fan. Actually, I would call it more of an obsession, but we’re not here to judge, are we? Anywhoo, since Lizzo is such a Redskins fan, Patrick, Heidi and I decided to make the surprise bash a Redskins themed celebration. And what better cake to show Redskins love than Red Velvet? I mean, it’s Red…and it’s like the BEST cake ever (one can even say it’s legen…dary). Making them cupcakes seemed only logical because…well I have a bit of an unhealthy love for all things cupcake (side note for DC residents, get thee to Hello Cupcake…now). To do the cupcakes justice, I turned once again to Joy and her amazing Red Velvet Whopper cupcakes. I’ve blogged about these before, but since I add a bit of something extra (that Southern girl’s touch) to the mix, I decided to give you the full recipe here.

Red Velvet Cupcakes, Southern Style (as shown below, makes 12 cupcakes)

adapted from Joy the Baker

8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups cake flour

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, shaved

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

scant 2 Tablespoons Red Food coloring

Preheat oven to 325

Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. Shave the chocolate (either using a large box grater or a food processor if you like your skin to stay on your hand) and add to the sifted flour mixture. Add the kosher salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until blended and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat for a minute more. Measure out the buttermilk in a measuring container and add the food coloring to it. Whisk until the color is uniform (it will probably look like a dark pink, but don’t worry it bakes up a nice red!). With the stand mixer on low to medium (depending on the horse power of your mixer), alternately add a portion of the flour mixture and a portion of the buttermilk. Allow all of the ingredients to mix together before adding another portion of the flour mixture and then a portion of the buttermilk. Continue these steps until all the flour and buttermilk mixtures are incorporated into the creamed sugar/butter mixture.

Take a tablespoon and spoon the batter into the muffin tins. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes and then check to see if they are done. Because ovens are different, baking times may vary. Allow to cool and then decorate as you desire!  I used a great cream cheese frosting tinted Redskins burgundy with gold sprinkles to make these Redskins-errific (yeah that did sound a bit cheesy, didn’t it).

As a side note, the party was a success! Liz was totally fooled (apparently all of Liz’s friends are great liars) and a good time was had by all. Even Urban Bohemian himself made it out (my newest foodie buddy might I add). The final cupcake “cake” picture isn’t my best, as Finn’s (like most Irish pubs) is dark (possibly to hide the shame of all that drinking). Happy Birthday Liz!

On my walk to work yesterday morning, I noticed a young couple who were obviously lost. I had the feeling they were tourists (the confused looks on their faces was the first clue), but they weren’t doing the normal, annoying touristy things (you know, standing in the middle of the sidewalk with a map the size of North Dakota folded out and obstructing everyone’s view). I was about to go over and offer assistance when a man beat me to it. This guy looked like the typical DC lawyer: impeccably dressed, briefcase in hand and a cellphone glued to his ear. But he still stopped and helped this couple find their way. It was one of the nicest gestures I’ve seen in a while and put me in the mood to make these cupcakes.

So why are they called Wedding Cake Cupcakes you may ask? Well, are you sitting down? You sure? Okay…well, I’ve offered to make Liz and Patrick’s wedding cake. Yes, you heard me correctly…I’ve OFFERED to make a wedding cake. There are two reasons for my madness: one, I love those guys to bits and two, I have over a year to prepare for said cake. Besides, their tastes are simple: an elegant three tier, square cake with buttercream frosting (something I’ve already made – with fabulous results – for a Daring Bakers challenge), NO fondant and elegant (but fairly manageable) decorations. In fact, Liz loved the cake Deb made for her friends at Smitten Kitchen. I’ve already gotten great tips from both Deb and my food blog mentor Joy and I really feel I can make something beautiful.

Because I am taking this task very seriously, I had a “tasting” at my house for Liz and Patrick to sample the cake I was proposing for their big day. I used Deb’s recipe from her own wedding cake project (and will refrain from reposting here…click the link for the recipe) and made cupcake versions. Why cupcakes? Because it also happens to be a co-worker’s birthday this Labor Day weekend and I wanted to send him off with some lovely treats.

Liz happened to be at my place doing a bit of wedding planning when I was making the cupcakes. And let me tell you, the girl loves cake batter. Luckily for her, there was a LOT of it to go around. In fact, the recipe made 32 cupcakes (yes, you read that correctly)! But let me tell you this: this was hands down the BEST cake I’ve ever baked. It was moist and fluffy but still a very substantial cake with a delightful vanilla flavor. Even better, it was a snap to make! This recipe has replaced my other “go-to” cake recipes…actually it smacked the other recipes around until they were a bloody heap in the corner. When I presented a cupcake to Liz for her opinion, a look of sheer bliss fell over her face. Patrick was equally sold, so ladies and gentleman, may I present the cake layers for THE wedding of 2009!

Since this is such a big endeavor, I will be practicing and working on the various components of the cake for the next year. For example, I suck at icing a cake…seriously, it looks like a blindfolded kindergarten student frosted most of my cakes. So to ensure the wedding cake doesn’t look like a school craft project, I plan on doing “trial runs” that I will of course chronicle here. During some of these posts I may cry, beg for help or even threaten to throttle someone, but I wouldn’t dare go through this without you guys! I hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!