November 30, 2008

Sugar High!

It's confession time folks.

Over the last couple of years, I've baked Shuna's Caramel Cake a handful of times. But until last night, I'd never paired it with the Caramelized Butter Frosting. I've dressed it with chocolate ganache; I've drizzled it a cream-mounted version of the caramel sauce and lemon-infused Caramel Sin. I've even served it nekkid.

Because browning butter? Waiting for it to cool? And all of that powdered sugar? Way too much work for the return.

Goes to show what *I* know.

Oh. My. Gawd.

A sincere mea culpa to the baking gods. Because to quote Nigel Tufnel, this stuff "goes to eleven."

I'm thankful Jenny tried it *with* the prescribed butter cream this summer and insisted we make both components mandatory parts of the challenge. Even if that meant I couldn't use one of the fifty or so pictures of previous cakes in my archives. Because clearly I *needed* to try the butter cream.

Off the beaters.

On the cake.

On Banana Bar cookies.

Off of John's fingers.

Someone's suggested it's great on breakfast cereal, though I confess I haven't gone there.

Yet.

What's 20,000 calories among friends?

For those of you here for the recipe, scroll down a bit. And if you completed the challenge (or even if you didn't), please go over and give my co-hosts Alex and Jenny some love. Shuna too. Go ahead... I'll wait. I couldn't have done it without them.

And when you've got some spare time between online banking, twittering and holiday shopping at Amazon and eBay, go check out the images and stories behind almost a thousand other caramel cakes from all corners of the earth...

25 comments:

Gretchen Noelle said...

I think it is really really funny that you as the hostess had not made the two together before now! Glad you were finally enlightened! Great job!

Dharm said...

Thanks for the fun challenge my dear friend! It was a tad too sweet for my liking but a delish cake nonetheless!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the lovely challenge! Great that you finally paired it with the browned butter frosting.

Esther said...

Looks great and thanks for the recipes I really enjoyed both and I to probably wouldn't have icing if you hadn't insisted either.

spike. said...

Oh. My. Gawd. is right! so good

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Good! I can finally see your cake! Glado you finallt tried the frosting, ahahah!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad yours turned out so well! I had to take a pass, but we already had enough Thanksgiving calories to deal with.

Unknown said...

Uh, yeah! That icing was THE BEST! I must admit, I didn't wait for it to cool all the way...I had to get the kitchen clean for the family coming. Your cake looks wonderful. Thanks for hosting.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Isn't it funny how we get an idea not to do something and we just really knead the DB to give us a kick in the pants. Thanks totally for this kick in the pants. Wonderful challenge.

Liz said...

Ha! I think breakfast cereals is the only place I haven't tried to add buttercream...have to add that to my list. :) Thanks for a fun challenge!

dailydelicious said...

Hi, Dolores.
Thank for visiting my blog.
About the sweetness of the cake, it's OK for many people around me, ^ ^.
It's fun to make anyway.

Anonymous said...

OMG. Thank you choosing this recipe. The frosting definitely brings the cake to the next level. The cake is great on its own, but it's divine with the frosting.

A co-worker {today} is still talking about the cupcakes I brought in last week.

Sheltie Girl said...

Thank you so much for a wonderful challenge. My family thoroughly enjoyed this cake!

Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

Anonymous said...

Thank you for choosing this recipe! It's been such a hit with our family, I've made it three times already...

Anonymous said...

Well done, and thanks for the challenge this month, I've got a great new recipe in my arsenal now.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for such a wonderful challenge. My friends and family really enjoyed the cake and it was fun making.

Jennywenny said...

Hee hee, glad you tried the frosting, it is extra special with the browned butter!

I like that it holds up to piping as well.

Jaime said...

funny how you had never made the frosting for this cake! your cake looks great; thanks for picking a great challenge! i can't wait to make the caramels; i'll let you know how they turn out :)

Jenny said...

Oooh now I'm thinking - on brownies! Thanks for the inspiration.

Y said...

Thanks again for this challenge, Dolores. I liked the idea of a challenged focused on caramel.

Anonymous said...

When you eat caramel cake and tons of frosting with friends, the calories don't count. :)

Allison said...

Thanks for an awesome challenge! I'm sure I will be making the cake and frosting both separately and together a lot in the future! =) And now I want to try those banana bar cookies... mmm

~Amber~ said...

Your cake looks so moist and delicious! Thanks for hosting such an awesome challenge.

Kaitlin said...

I agree, the icing was totally worth the effort. So incredibly yummy.

Esi said...

Thank you sooo much for hosting this and helping me overcome my fear of caramel. I still have some issues with sugar, but this definitely helped in working through them :)