Lemon Vanilla Caramel Cake

[Reposting from "Baked!" at Yummy.ph, November 2009]

I must admit, I’ve made cakes in the past that have lingered quite a bit in the kitchen, uneaten. But this lemon vanilla caramel cake wasn’t one of them. It was gone within three days of baking, filling, and frosting it.

It’s also fun to make. The steps may come across as tedious (as with anything that involves folding fluffy egg whites into batter) but honestly, the least enjoyable part will probably be the first thing you have to do when making a cake, which is cut rounds of parchment paper to line the bottom of the pans with, and buttering all sides. I find this part of baking anti-climactic yet essential. Once you get that out of the way—don’t forget to preheat the oven—the baking process is quite soft and relaxing, just like the two spongey white cakes you come up with.

What sweet dreams are made of

This cake is a combination of two recipes, plus a lemony tweak I picked up from watching Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa. The base is a white cake recipe from Martha Stewart, and the caramel filling is from a Fleur de Sel (a special flaky salt from France) chocolate cake recipe from GoodBite.com. A quick Google search will yield video results for all of the above. Out of convenience, I've taken to culling recipes from all sorts of websites, versus getting them from cookbooks.

This lemon vanlla caramel cake can also easily transform to cupcakes. I would suggest using a melon baller to make a small hole on top to fill with caramel, before frosting the top with your marshmallow icing of choice. Personally I love watching egg whites transform into fluffy white frosting, so I don't mind making it from scratch. Here's the quick recipe I follow, also from Martha Stewart:

Seven Minute Frosting
[Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/perfect-seven-minute-frosting]

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
6 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and egg whites. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes.

2 Attach bowl to a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat mixture on high speed until glossy and voluminous, about 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Use immediately.

You'll have a lot of extra frosting left to eat from the bowl. Enjoy!

Tell me: What's your favorite cake? Please feel free to comment and share!