Salted Caramel Cake Food

SALTED CARAMEL MILK CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Put your chocolates in a big bowl. Put the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and bring up to a boil. As soon that happens, stop stirring and let it boil until it turns an amber color, 8 to 10 minutes or so. (If you think that it needs another stir, brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, and stir the entire mixture, picking up the pot itself by the handle, being careful not to touch the caramel or else it could crystallize.) Once the mixture reaches that dark amber color, turn the heat down. Stand back from the pot and add the cream very slowly, stirring with a heatproof spatula. (If you are nervous about the steam, wear a kitchen glove to protect your hand.) Continue to stir until all is incorporated. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the fine salt. Take off the heat and pour the caramel over the bowl of chocolate. Whisk to combine, making sure all the chocolate melts. Pop in the fridge for about 1 hour until completely chilled.
• Take the frosting out of the fridge and beat it with a hand mixer just until it becomes spreadable. Add the butter in pieces and mix until it's all combined. Pop back into the refrigerator for another hour.
• Place 1 cake layer on a cake platter, flat-side up. (You want the cake flat-side up so when you get into it you'll have nice and even layers.) Evenly spread 2 cups of the frosting over the top. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes, then put the other cake layer on top, flat-side up. Spread the rest of the frosting over the top and on the sides of the cake. Sprinkle the top with more salt flakes.
• Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (9 by 2-inch) nonstick round cake pans. Line the bottom of each with a round of parchment paper, and then butter the paper.
• Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together onto parchment paper. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 4 or 5 minutes. Add your eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until completely incorporated before adding each additional egg. Mix in the chocolate and vanilla, making sure to combine really well. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, in 3 batches, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Make sure to let it mix thoroughly.
• Pour half the batter in each pan and spread it evenly with a spatula or butter knife. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 25 minutes. Remove the pans to racks and allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes or so. Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a knife, then turn them onto the racks. Remove the paper and let the cakes completely cool.

EASY CARAMEL CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter two 20cm springform tins and line the bases with baking parchment.
• Beat the butter and both sugars in a bowl with an electric whisk for a few mins until lighter in colour and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour and beating in between each egg. Add the remaining flour and milk. Divide between the cake tins and bake for 25-30 mins until they're golden, spring back when pressed, and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Cool in the tins for a few mins, then tip out and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, for the icing, put the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk for a few mins until light and airy. Whisk in the caramel briefly, adding 1 tbsp of boiling water to loosen, if needed. Set aside until the sponges are completely cool before assembling, or the icing will melt.
• Use half the icing to sandwich the cakes together, then spread the remainder over the top, smoothing it out with a knife or the back of a spoon. Leave in a cool place until ready to serve. Drizzle with the 3 tbsp extra sauce (warm briefly in the microwave if it's a little stiff), allowing some to drip down the sides if you like, and scatter over the toffee, chocolate or caramel pieces to serve. Edible glitter, birthday candles or sparklers, optional.

SALTED CARAMEL APPLE CREPE CAKE

Steps:

• For the apple-cinnamon puree: Puree the roasted apples and their juices in a food processor or blender. Combine the apple puree with the lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened and reduced slightly, about 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature and store in a sanitized jar for up to a month.
• For the salted caramel: Heat the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, until the sugar turns golden. Stir until all of the sugar is dissolved and just starting to turn a lovely amber color.
• Turn heat to low, add the butter and stir to combine. Careful, it'll foam up. Then add the heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt, stirring to combine. You'll cook the sauce for 5 to 10 minutes, until it comes together. It'll take quite a bit of stirring! Let caramel cool to room temperature, pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Pour over everything and anything!
• For the crepes: Pop the flour, both sugars, salt, milk, eggs and melted butter in a large bowl and blend together thoroughly. If at all lumpy, strain.
• Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Lightly coat or spray with vegetable oil and ladle a scoop of the batter into the center of the pan. Tilt the pan, rotating in a circle, to spread the entire crepe out. It should be about 9 inches wide and very thin. Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Set aside on a plate. Cook the remaining batter until you have about 20 crepes.
• For assembly: Place a crepe on a cake platter and spread 3 to 4 tablespoons of the mascarpone over the crepe. Top with another crepe, and spread with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the salted caramel sauce. Top that with another crepe, and spread with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the apple-cinnamon puree. Repeat this process until you've layered 20 crepes.
• Pop the crepe cake in the fridge for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight) to set. When ready to serve, remove from the fridge and let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes to take the chill off. Sprinkle the top with sea salt and enjoy.

SALTED CARAMEL GLAZE

Steps:

• In heavy small saucepan melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in packed brown sugar and granulated sugar. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly.
• Stir in whipping cream and return to boiling. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in sea salt. Cool completely.

SALTED CARAMEL "DING DONG" CAKE

Steps:

• For cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pans with parchment-paper rounds; coat paper. Place cocoa powder and chocolate in a medium metal bowl. Pour hot coffee over. Let stand for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla; set aside.
• Whisk cake flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down sides and bottom of bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with chocolate mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Divide batter evenly between pans; smooth tops.
• Bake cakes until a tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes (cakes will deflate slightly). Run a knife around pans to loosen cakes; invert cakes onto racks. Peel off paper and let cakes cool completely. Turn cakes over.
• If needed, use a long serrated knife to cut off bumps or trim dome from top of each cake to create a flat, even surface.
• For caramel ganache:
• Place chocolate and salt in a medium bowl. Stir sugar and 1/4 cup water in a medium deep saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and cook without stirring, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until sugar is deep amber, about 9 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually add cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir over medium heat until caramel bits dissolve. Pour over chocolate in bowl. Add vanilla; stir until mixture is smooth. Let cool slightly.
• Place 1 cake layer in springform pan. Pour 1 cup ganache over. Chill until set, about 30 minutes. Cover remaining ganache and let stand at room temperature.
• For filling and assembly:
• Place 2 tablespoons cold water in a small heatproof glass or metal bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over; let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes.
• Pour water to a depth of 1/2" into a small skillet set over medium heat. Transfer bowl with gelatin to skillet; stir until gelatin dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove bowl from skillet. Set aside.
• Place cream and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Using an electric mixer, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add gelatin; beat filling until firm peaks form.
• Spoon filling over chilled ganache on cake layer in pan; smooth top. Gently place second cake layer on top. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill until cream layer is set, at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Remove sides from springform pan. Using a knife or offset spatula, scrape off any filling that may have leaked out from between cakes to form smooth sides. Transfer cake to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet.
• Rewarm remaining ganache until just pourable. (Microwave in a microwave-safe bowl, or set a metal bowl over a large saucepan of simmering water until just warm, not hot.) Pour ganache over cake, tilting cake as needed to allow ganache to drip down sides and using an offset spatula to help spread ganache, if needed, to cover sides of cake. Chill until ganache is set, about 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Cake can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with a cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.
• Sprinkle cake with flaky sea salt.

SALTED CARAMEL POKE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160 fan/gas mark 4 and line 2 x 20cm sandwich cake tins. In a bowl or freestanding mixer, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until the whole mixture is really aerated (if your mixture looks like it might be splitting, add a little of your flour). Add the vanilla, then mix in the flour and baking powder, alternating with the milk. Divide the mixture between the tins and cook for 25-30 minutes or until the top and edges are golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in tins for 10 minutes before flipping onto a wire cooling rack and peeling off the baking parchment. Allow to cool.
• Make the salted caramel sauce by heating the sugar in a medium saucepan over a low to medium heat. Resist the temptation to stir. Instead, when it starts to melt, gently swirl the pan. Cook until amber in colour - this will take 5-6 mins. Remove from the heat and add all the butter. The mixture will bubble up, but let it melt completely before stirring. Slowly pour in the cream and add the sea salt, put back on a gentle heat and warm until it's a smooth sauce. Pour into a jug and leave to cool to room temperature.
• To make the cream cheese caramel icing: cream the butter with a freestanding mixer or in a bowl until light and creamy, slowly adding in half of the sifted icing sugar in parts until fully incorporated and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, 100g of the salted caramel sauce and the remaining icing sugar, then whisk until pale and smooth. Keep in the fridge until needed.
• Once the cakes are cooled, move them to a flat surface and use a large skewer or thick straw to poke holes across the top of the cakes, being careful not to poke all the way through! Drizzle most of the remaining caramel sauce (reserving some for decoration) into the holes in the cake layers, topping up as they sink in, then spread any overspill across the cake layer. Leave to cool completely.
• To assemble, carefully place one layer onto a serving plate and cover with half of the cream cheese frosting. Repeat with the next layer, then use the remaining caramel to create a marbled pattern on top of the cake.

CHOCOLATE-SALTED CARAMEL CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350ºF.
• Chop 3 oz. chocolate finely. Prepare cake batter as directed on package; stir in chopped chocolate. Pour into 13x9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake 28 to 32 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; cool completely.
• Microwave caramels, water and 1/8 tsp. salt in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 30 sec.; stir. Microwave 30 sec. more; stir. Continue microwaving and stirring in 10-sec. increments until caramels are completely melted and sauce is well blended. Cool 10 min.
• Beat cream cheese in medium bowl with mixer until creamy. Add caramel sauce; mix well. Gently stir in COOL WHIP; spread onto cake.
• Melt remaining chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with remaining salt.

PRALINE BUNDT CAKE WITH SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• For The Cake: Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 15-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray with flour; set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add sugars and vanilla, beating until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes; loosely cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Drizzle cake with Salted Caramel Sauce and sprinkle with about 1 cup Pecan Toffee pieces. Store at room temperature up to 5 days.
• For The Salted Caramel Sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine condensed milk and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking often. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 to 8 minutes, whisking often. Remove from heat; whisk in butter, vanilla and sea salt. Cool at least 20 minutes before using. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
• For The Pecan Toffee: Butter a large rimmed baking sheet; set aside.
• In a large saucepan, combine sugar, butter, 1 cup water, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; boil until a candy thermometer reads 285° or soft-crack.
• Pour onto prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with pecans and let stand until set, about 30 minutes.
• Break into small pieces. Makes about 4 cups. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

BITE-SIZE SALTED CARAMEL CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Combine graham crumbs, brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. salt and butter; press onto bottoms of 24 paper-lined mini muffin cups.
• Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar in medium bowl with mixer until blended. Add egg; beat just until blended. Spoon into muffin cups, adding about 1 Tbsp. cream cheese batter to each.
• Bake 15 min. or until centers of cheesecakes are almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Place caramels in small heatproof bowl. Add milk and 1/4 tsp. of the remaining salt. Place over pan of boiling water, making sure boiling water does not touch bottom of bowl. Cook until caramels are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently.
• Drizzle about 1 tsp. caramel sauce over each cheesecake; sprinkle with remaining salt. Refrigerate 1 hour.