The Daring Bakers' November Challenge - Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

Caramel! It has to be my very favorite sweet flavor. So you can imagine how happy I was to see a caramel cake as this month's challenge for the Daring Bakers. (Recipe HERE.)





I haven't made a cake in a long time! But this recipe was a pretty straight-forward one, and not difficult. The only part that was a little challenging was making the caramel syrup, which was simply a cooked and caramelized mixture of sugar and water. I decided to make this sweet, amber concoction a day early, to make the actual cake-preparation simpler. (I think I might have stopped the caramelization a little too soon; it would have been better to have a richer, darker color.) Here are some pictures of the process and the final syrup.


The next day I baked the cake and iced it. I spread the icing on the cake using this old icing spatula, which used to belong to my dad, who was a professional baker. As you can see, it's well-worn, and has his name engraved onto the blade, so some other baker wouldn't walk off with it. It means a lot to me, because I know his hands held and used it innumerable times over many years.


To jazz up the top, I used some left over dulce de leche that I made the week before. It had been in the refrigerator, so I warmed it up, briefly, in the microwave, and drizzled it randomly across the top.

It was fun to bake a cake from scratch again. As I said, it's been quite awhile. I would certainly make this recipe again sometime. I was pleasantly surprised at the cake's texture, which was both dense and moist - unlike those fluffy, airy cake-mix cakes. The addition of the caramel syrup to the batter gave it a wonderful, mildly caramel flavor. I would be happy to eat this cake with no icing whatsoever! In fact . . . I think I'd prefer it that way. I'd have much preferred a sort of caramel glaze, poured over the cake, instead of a butter-based icing, which was too sweet for me (and that's not something I can often say!).

The next evening, after baking and icing the cake, we invited our across-the-street-neighbors, David and Lorraine, over for cake and coffee. I had stored the cake in the refrigerator, and I really enjoyed the flavor more the second day. David and Lorraine both told me how good the cake was, and both cleaned their plates, which is always a compliment to the cook.

Many thanks to the Daring Bakers' hosts/co-hosts for this month:
Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity
Alex of The Blondie and Brownie Duo
Jenny of Foray into Food
Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go

The recipe they presented was by Shuna Fish Lydon (http://eggbeater.typepad.com/), as published on Bay Area Bites (http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006/12/24/caramel-cake-the-recipe/).

Other Completed Daring Bakers' Challenges: Lavash, Pizza Napoletana

CLICK HERE FOR NEXT (FRENCH YULE LOG)

Fall Day at the Gardens

Mom is here, visiting with us for Thanksgiving. Today I took the day off. I spent a little time preparing a few things for tomorrow's dinner, but still had plenty of free time, so I took Mom to the Botanic Gardens, where we strolled a little bit. There are lots of benches, scattered here and there, so it was not too tiring for her. We both enjoyed getting out in the fall weather for a while. The sun was shining and it was around 65 degrees.

Mom, at one of the garden gates.

New Mexico's state bird is the roadrunner. I was happy to get a clear photo of this one. Roadrunners can run up to 17 miles per hour, and are "skittish," making it very hard to get their picture. This one, though, was wandering around some tables at the entrance to the Gardens, where people often feed it, so it was a little less camera shy.

Some dried tree pods hanging in front of a clump of pampas grass.

In the courtyard, just outside of the gate to the Gardens, is this bronze sculpture that I love. You can see, in the background, some flocked trees. They are setting up for the month-long River of Lights.

After the Botanic Gardens, we went to the 66 Diner, on the old Route 66 (currently Central Street, in Albuquerque), and had lunch. Here's Mom with Betty Boop.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. I wish each of you a wonderful day with your family and friends.

When I Grow Up

Let me tell you about Isabella. Isabella is a beautiful, elderly widow lady in our church congregation. She has been battling cancer for the past two years, going through surgery, chemotherapy, recovery, remission, and relapse twice. Now she's facing another round of chemo. I never see Isabella without a smile. It's true, last Sunday night I saw her with tears in her eyes . . . but she was still smiling! She has amazing strength of character, abiding faith, and a thankful heart. I want to "grow up" to be like Isabella.

You've Got to Watch This!

Be sure you go to Kelsey's blog at: http://juddstuff.blogspot.com/2008/11/claras-first-dance-recital.html to see Sweetpea's first dance recital (which was back in the summertime). She's third from the left, as you're looking at them. The part I love best is when she stops her performance to point to the spot on the floor where the little girl next to her should be standing. Pretty dog-gone cute, if you ask me.

For those of you who are her adoring fans, I think her second recital is coming up sometime before Christmas.