On the eve of Christmas last year I gave you all a Caramel Cake recipe at KQED. Originally I found the recipe in the SF Chronicle and cut it out, in part because my friend and heroine Flo Braker's name was on it.
{I have just spent the last hour searching for it through EGullet, SF Gate and Google and I can't find the original document, sorry.}
What I've learned in the last year, by reader's comments and email exchanges, is that this is not an easy cake to make. In fact it might be a cake which requires the baker to be perhaps professional or at least highly intuitive-- meaning that one need know to and how to change recipe/ method while making said baked good based on how things look in the moment.
As I've said, when I very first made the cake I followed my own intuition instead of the method Flo laid out. The second time I made it I followed Flo's exact instructions and I liked the way the cake came out with my method more. This is me-- not you. I am more comfortable with the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method than I am with merely the creaming method when there is so much liquid involved.
But because I have had a number of one-on-one tutorials with a few people via email, I wanted to post what I went over with them, to illuminate any new Caramel Cake bakers.
Reader #1:
The first time, I went ahead and baked it, it rose a little, but then became a super dense cake. The second one I ditched when it broke, the third time, it broke but was less 'chunky' than the first and second times so I baked it but it became super oily and never really finished cooking.
I keep playing with the mixing speed, never going above 2 when creaming and I stay on stir when doing dry-wet-dry and the kitchen aid is only about a yr old.
-------> what this person means by "broke" is that the batter looks curdled instead of a smooth emulsification.
Reader #2, first email:
I made the caramel syrup, which came out great and the icing is terrific! However, my cake....well, it's not so good to say the least. It came out VERY dense and thick. I inserted a toothpick and it came out clean after 50 min. of baking, but it fell and was way too dense, almost like an over cooked pie custard. Am I doing something wrong with the mixing? Do I need to bake it longer. Also, the color of mine is lighter, how much vanilla should I add?
My response to above (both):
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth.
-- this should be done for a while so that there is really a lot of air. creaming can be on medium to high speed. if you are only on 2 it might not be rapid enough to gather air.
2. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.
-- again, should be pretty high speed. you want that butter and sugar to turn very light yellow, almost like the white blonde hair of a child.
3. Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl.
-- this should be done in increments. pour in a little, pull back and let come together. then more, and so on like that. (like when you make pate a choux and you add in the eggs.)
4. 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.
--- and here this should be pretty high speed because you want those eggs drawn in mighty quick. already there's a lot of fat and acid and various liquids, so this is an important part of the creaming process. scrape down as much as you can to make sure everything is being drawn in.
5. Sift flour and baking powder.
6. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dries.
-- this "third" looks more like a half.
7. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time.
-- making sure this is warmish room temperature, do not overwhelm the batter. pour in some, pull back to make sure it takes it, then go in for more until the half cup is in. if you are going to make an error, make it slightly less than one half. if you're worried, stop mixer and scrape down bowl thoroughly to make sure all the batter is working together.
8. Add another third of the dries, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dries. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, drry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}
--- again, watch the batter. is it pulling everything in? do you need to increase the speed of the mixer? do you need to scrape down the bowl again?
9. Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds. making sure batter is uniform.
-- this is to make sure everything is all together and nothing is hiding at the bottom...
Does this help?
I got this recipe from The SF Chronicle where Flo Braker wrote it. She did not employ the D,W, D, W, D method and I had some problems so I rewrote the method, and increased the amount of caramel.
You may also lower the amount of milk and/or caramel. I wanted the caramel taste very strong but does not have to be.
I hope this helps. Beyond this I don't know unless you can tell me really specifically when exactly your main issue occurs. I am using an AP flour with @ a 10% protein content and a full fat milk and my caramel is the thickness of dark maple syrup.
Reader #2, second email:
I made a new cake, but still did not have good results. I made sure and followed each step. I held off about 1/4 cup of milk as well. Do you think I should try using self-rising flour or more baking soda? The problem I am having, is the cake just isn't rising. Maybe my Kitchenaid mixer doesn't have enough power to get the air in the cake. I've made cakes before and have had good results. I'm just not sure what I'm doing wrong. The batter is absolutely heavenly and the icing....OH MY! WOW! I really want this cake to work.
My last response to reader #2:
OK, so you:
1. have all the ingredients no where near cold, right?
2. are using baking powder not older than 6 months?
3. are using a tall cake pan?
4. are making sure the oven has been on for 30 minutes before putting the cake in?
5. are creaming the butter until light, then adding the sugar & creaming until light and then adding eggs one at a time & increasing the speed so that those eggs are really emulsified before you're adding the wets in a little bit at a time?
Yes, if all these don't work to raise your cake, increase the .5 t of BP to 1 teaspoon Baking Powder.
Are you at a high elevation? Where do you live?
When I bake this cake in a commercial convection oven it gets higher than my home Wedgewood, but it is not inedible, just denser. After all these instructions I would not be able to say much more, I'm sorry. The person I sent this list to was fine after following closely the details. But not every baked good works for every person. I think the frosting would work well on a number of things so I hope you can be happy that at least you have a great new frosting on your hands.
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If this step-by-step how to tutorial still leaves you confused about why the cake isn't working, please feel free to make another cake that does.
It is a great cake, but it may not be within everyone's reach...
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