I know I’ve had a lot of Caramel entries the last few months. I promise this one will be the last for a while. I went through SO much trouble making this cake, it didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted it, and at the end of it, I was just exhausted and sick of all the sugar. So this is the last of the caramels!
I’ve been meaning to make this cake for years. Especially since I learned how to make praline. Every year on my birthday I’d be asked what cake I’d want, it was that ONE time of the year the cake would be of my choice and I would always ask for the same – Caramel Crunch Cake. I wanted to re-create this to re-live my memory of this divine creation by a local Cake shop. I didn’t fail so miserably but the cake was much denser than I wanted it to be and the caramel crunch was in bigger chunks than I would have liked. It looked pretty in the end, but not what I had in mind -but I’m sharing it all the same and you can improvise:)
The cake is like a pound cake recipe with caramel mixed in it (similar to the Caramel cupcakes), I’ve kept that simple because the frosting and the caramel crunch add a ton of sweetness. I thought it tasted better cold, and it’s also super sweet, so go easy on the caramel.
Ingredients
2 C butter
2 C sugar
8 eggs
3 1/2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caramel (same as I have used in the caramel cupcakes)
Caramel Frosting same quantity as in recipe
Caramel same quantity as in recipe, once set and cool, put in food processor or bash with a rolling pin
Directions:
2 C butter
2 C sugar
8 eggs
3 1/2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caramel (same as I have used in the caramel cupcakes)
Caramel Frosting same quantity as in recipe
Caramel same quantity as in recipe, once set and cool, put in food processor or bash with a rolling pin
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 180C, prepare a 9″ deep pan with a detachable base with baking paper
- Prepare the caramel and set aside, preferably a day in advance
- For the cake, cream butter and sugar with a hand held mixer, it should be creamy, add sugar and beat and then add eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy
- Add the caramel to give it colour and mix until evenly combined
- Finally add in the flour and baking powder and stir to combine
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40mins or until skewer comes out clean
- While the cake cools, make the caramel frosting
- To assemble the cake, split the cake into half and use the top half as the base and place it on your serving dish. Top it generously with frosting and sprinkle with the crushed caramel
- Place the other half of the cake on top, base side up and cover the cake with frosting on all sides
- Let the frosting set partially and then sprinkle with crushed caramel over and around the cake
My caramel pieces look like pieces of jewels because I got so tired of making the caramel over and over again (the colour wasn’t right) and my food processor was busted, that eventually I just had to cave! So please, use your food processor, unless you prefer to the big chunks:)
