Each Friday, I offer recipes for those of us who love to cook complicated dishes and find we have more time on the weekends for such culinary undertakings.
I tweeted yesterday that Rose Levy Beranbaum's new cookbook, "Rose's Heavenly Cakes," is porn for bakers. (Beranbaum is the author of The Cake Bible.) Every other page offers a photo of delectable, complicated desserts that any baker would aspire to master. Oddly enough, I find myself drawn to one of the simpler cakes in the book for a caramel cake, named Karmel Cake after one of Beranbaum's close friends, Elizabeth Karmel, another cookbook author.
Karmel Cake
1 cup light brown sugar, preferrably Muscovado
1 1/4 cups milk, divided
2 tablesoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour or bleached all-purpose flour, sifted into measuring cup
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Set oven rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter and flour the inside of a 9 by 2-inch round cake pan. You also could line the bottom with parchment paper that also has been coated with baking spray and flour.
To make the caramel, have ready a 2-cup or larger heatproof glass measure, coated with nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium heavy saucepan, with a silicone spatula, stir together the brown sugar, 3/4 cup of milk and the butter. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Stop stirring and boil until an instant-read thermometer registers 238 degrees, the soft ball stage. Tilt the pan to get enough depth for an accurate reading. It will take about 10 minutes or more to reach this stage, and the mixture will look slightly curdled. When the sugar reaches temperature, immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into a prepared glass measure to stop the cooking. You should have 1 cup. If less, add cold water to equal 1 cup. Scrap the mixture into a medium bowl and gently whisk in the remaining milk. Don't worry if some ofthe liquid crystalizes on the bottom, it will dissolve during baking.
Place the bowl on a wire rack and allow the mixture to cool until is is no longer warm to the touch. It will take about an hour, but to speed cooling, it's fine to set the glass measure in a bowl of ice water. If desired, stir the mixture a few times while cooling in order to equalize the temperature.
To make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla until just lightly combined. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, baking powder and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and cooled caramel. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Starting on medium-low speed, gradually add the egg mixture in two parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter ito the prepared pan, and smoothe surface evenly with a small offset spatula.
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.
Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray. To prevent splitting, reinvert the cake so the top side is up. Cool completely.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
