MangiaMore: Real Deal Southern Caramel Cake

RER 6.23.15

Ok, maybe I’m no expert. I know I’m no expert. My cakes do not always come out looking perfect. Believe me, I wish they would like those from gorgeous baking blogs and glossy magazines. But, sadly, they do not. I am no pastry chef with culinary background and know-how. However, I am a sometimes baker who enjoys trying something different and experimenting in the kitchen.

RER 6.20.15

RER 6.20.15

For Father’s Day, I was inspired by my sister who has been wanting a caramel cake. A legit caramel cake. Not the gentler breed I made before. One of those super buttery yellow cakes held together by melted sugar caramel glue, sticky and sweet, decadent and southern. I got the picture.

However, my cake, unfortunately, did not come out like the picture.

RER 6.20.15

RER 6.20.15

The Real Deal Southern Caramel Cake recipe from Grandbaby Cakes would appease sister’s dreams and celebrate my Daddio. Making the cake was easy, despite the zillion (six) eggs plus a load (two) of yolks, the copious amounts of butter, the surplus of sugar, the random sour cream, and the endless mixing. It was cathartic and exciting, maybe a little unnerving.

RER 6.20.15

RER 6.20.15

The cake became infinitesimally more difficult when the thick evaporated milk, tons of sugar, and more butter than safe, simmered, bubbled, and boiled for more than an hour and a half. I sat and I watched and I stirred and I read when I was not sitting and watching and stirring, but at about the 1.45 hour mark, things started to burn. I ruined everything that this caramel was meant to be: a creamy, glossy, sticky caramel to coat that cake.  Mine got lumpy and dull, chunky, and stiff—to sum up, unpleasant. Little whisk in hand, I attacked the cooling caramel, hoping to bring back some of its luster  and revive the soul of this cake.

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If that wasn’t enough, this seizing caramel involved extreme, strenuous, and sometimes sweaty effort to apply. Warm caramel and muggy afternoons do not play nicely together, so what was once a straight, square and level cake, became a sloppy, lopsided mess. A few layers went one way while the others leaned the other way. Disaster.

To put it simply, the cake was not pretty.

But whoa, was it delicious.

RER 6.20.15

RER 6.20.15

I made it on Saturday and threw the swerving cake in the fridge before any more damage could be done. Sunday, after prying off the lid and some of the caramel (and cake layer #2), the ugly cake tasted amazing. The crisp beautiful layers were sweet and tangy with sour cream, but dense enough to stand up to my imperfect caramel. It was just moist enough and felt like heavy pound cake on the tongue, while the candy coating was buttery, rich, and decadent with the aroma of browned sugar. Despite it all, my unattractive cake was scrumptious filled with love, commitment, tears, sweat, and dedication.

It’s the taste that counts? Or is it the thought? Well, this caramel cake ended up being pretty tasty.

Hope you all had a sweet Father’s Day too!

RER

6.21.15

RER 6.23.15

MangiaMore: MILLIONAIRE bars

RER 12.24.14

It may be too late to whip these up for jolly old Saint Nick, but these Millionaire Bars will hit the jackpot all year round.

RER 12.22.14

RER 12.24.14

We have had this recipe for Millionaire Bars printed out for a while now, probably even months, but I was not crazy about all the steps. Patience is not one of my strong points, but my sister took one for the team and put in the work.

RER 12.22.14

RER 12.22.14

The recipe may be a little time consuming—make shortbread, cook, and cool; make caramel, layer, and cool; make chocolate, pour, sprinkle sea salt, and cool. “Cool” is code for wait for what seems like forever, meaning eating these cookies feels like it will never, ever happen.

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But it did! And when it does, you will not regret the wait. There are three luscious layers that are totally delicious on their own, but when they come together in this cookie bar, bingo, you’ve hit the lotto. The sandy buttery short bread crumbles, bending to the chewy sweetness of the caramel, while the chocolate rules, creamy and smooth. But it is those fat crystals of sea salt that make the magic. The salt makes all the flavors reflect a different light, adding an inexplicable complexity and prism of profiles—sparkle.

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RER 12.22.14

RER 12.22.14

These were definitely a sweet addition to our Christmas roster. Hope everyone had a delicious and marvelous holiday, surrounded by the people (and foods) you love!           

RER

12.24.14

RER 12.24.14

 

MangiaMore: BANANA blondies

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RER 7.15.14

It's becoming abundantly clear why I cannot lose a pound. Not one. Not a single one. I can’t stop baking!

You know the expression, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”? Like, I really can’t agree with it. I can think of  a zillion billion things that taste way better than how I imagine skinny would feel (I can only imagine friends… I know what strong and healthy feel like, but not ‘skinny’ per se).

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These banana blondies just happen to be one of those delightful things that might just outweigh thin. Cookies and Cups is making it impossible for me to drop any weight and achieve that “tasty” skinniness.

RER 7.14.14

RER 7.14.14

First of all, I would not describe these as blondies. They’re something more like a moist flavorful cake with a healthy smear of delish brown sugar frosting. They were buttery and dense, like a blondie, but they didn’t have that cookie-like crumble; they were just smooth and bouncy like this banana cake.

RER 7.15.14

RER 7.14.14

-->Secondly, if there is an option of browning your butter instead of using plain-old butter, always, always go the browned butter route. Just the smell of browned butter is lusty—sensual, seductive and sonorous. It makes everything ten times more scrumptious and infinitely amplifies sex appeal.

RER 7.14.14

RER 7.14.14

-->C: This frosting was a jaw dropping. So wonderful, I wanted to take some off of the blondies to eat with other goodies. The luscious icing had some sugar heating involved like the frosting of my caramel cake and the deep yumminess of browned sugar like the pear cake but somehow, it outshone both and was utterly mouth-watering perfection. There are no words.

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RER 7.14.14

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Finally, the combination of the cakey base and the smooth and creamy caramelized brown sugar frosting was practically out of control. Like ridiculously, wildly, disgustingly delicious. Every bite (I cut the blondies into tiny tiny itty bitty square, aka bites) was like heaven. The banana flavor was just strong enough to linger on the tongue and waft delicately into hearts. The frosting sealed in the moistness with a rich and creamy caramel note, pulling out the beautiful moments of browned butter in the bar. And with these powers combined, the banana blondies were practically invincible.

I think this is what skinny feels like…

RER

7.14.14

RER 7.15.14