Double-Decker Salted Caramel Cake

This cake was born from the idea, anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

There is a lot of caramel in this cake…and I did think we were overdoing it, and that the cake would be very sweet, but Dorie was correct…it just works!

We might have started a new tradition, which seems fun…our “April Birthday” bakers chose this one, so we have to take a minute to thank Kayte, Steph, and Diane for a great choice…and to say Happy Birthday! 🎂

Like most things, this isn’t a hard recipe but it does take a little time.

I started with making the homemade salted caramel so it had time to cool before I needed it. I am always reminded at how simple this is…just sugar, water, corn syrup, butter, cream, vanilla and fluer de sel. This is used swirled in the cake, and also a cup of it mixed with confectioners sugar for the frosting.

The cake is baked in a springform and sliced after baking to get the two layers. The cake batter is thick and airy. You don’t whip the eggs like a meringue, but it does form shiny peaks before adding the dry ingredients. Nothing is too unusual other than buttermilk, but it sure was a moist and flavorful cake. I will have to mention here that this cake had 1/2 t of cinnamon…that is the only spice, and I would say a minimal amount at that…

And yet…

Every person who had this, which was 11 people 😳 , and not all together, said it was the most delicious SPICE cake 😂…me included. There was 3 T of caramel swirled in the cake, but still, I thought that was pretty crazy how unanimous that reaction was. Interesting how much flavor those two things could give to a cake!

The sliced cake is frosted with the sugar/caramel mixture which I thought the texture/consistency interesting to work with…more like a coating or thick glaze. We are told, you can leave it plain, or add chocolate or toffee pieces for decoration. I was leery to add more sugar…I really thought this would already be an overly sweet cake but I went for it anyway adding mini chocolate chips and chopped up almond roca and I am really glad I did! It finished the cake beautifully and everyone loved the added crunch.

Two big takeaways from this bake…it is quite the showstopper and incredibly it is not a sweet cake at all. Dorie tells us caramel is really just burnt sugar and will add a tinge of bitterness which will make it intriguing. She was spot on. We served it with vanilla ice cream when my kids were all over and everyone said that was the perfect compliment.

So, while not the healthiest dessert, it was indeed delicious. Everyone LOVED it and would gladly have this one again. My dad, adding it to his running “top 25” list. ❤️

This one is a keeper!

Goat Cheese-Black Pepper Quick Bread

This quick bread is described as being perfect for eating outdoors, perhaps at a garden party or with a cold glass of wine. That it is a cross between a muffin and a sponge cake…laced beautifully with goat cheese, mint, and a fair amount of black pepper.

I knew this would be an out of the box experiment for us. Most of us aren’t big goat cheese eaters, wine drinkers, or lovers of mint in food but we are always up for the adventure because you never know. 🤷‍♀️

Quick bread, really is a quick bread to make…pretty much combine wet ingredients, then dry. Mix the two lightly together and fold in gently the cheese and mint. We are told be light, and fast is better than thorough. The dough is smoothed out and cooked for about 35 min.

So, interestingly the recipe notes compare this bread to a cross between a muffin and sponge bread…first reaction I got was this seemed like a cross between cornbread and a biscuit. How funny is that?! 😂. Most of my tasters gave me the feedback that they weren’t really a fan…that it was fun to try but just not their thing. This did not surprise me.

Not a keeper with this one…but I am feeling very confident that they will have a different opinion about the salted caramel cake that comes later this month. 😂❤️