Salted Caramel

Now that autumn is in full-swing, all I want to do is go apple picking. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated between the drought and early heat this spring - which led to a small harvest this year - and the rain storms we've had lately. I tried to plan a big trip and we had tornado warnings all weekend. Such a bummer. Still, there have been great Honeycrisps from Michigan at the grocery store and I've really been enjoying them!



This weekend, I decided that if I was going to eat apples inside in the rain, I needed to dip them in caramel. This recipe was SUPER easy. I think I could have let the sugar get a little bit deeper caramelization, but I was so afraid of burning it that I pulled it off a little early. Next time I'll let it get a little darker. This recipe is fantastic though! I brought the leftovers to the Monkey Scientist's parents - I'm hoping his mom uses it to make some spectacular baked goods. It would be wonderful swirled in brownies or cake!



Salted Caramel Sauce
slightly adapted from Lick My Spoon

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Heat sugar and water in a 2-quart or 3-quart non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to help the sugar dissolve, but stop stirring when the sugar comes to a boil. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want.
2. When the liquid sugar hits a dark amber color (I don't think I waited quite long enough), add all the butter to the pan. The mixture will foam up and thicken. Whisk until the butter has melted. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat.
3. Add the cream to the pan (the mixture will foam up again) and continue to whisk to incorporate.
4. Add the sea salt and vanilla and whisk until caramel sauce is smooth.
5. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass jar and let cool to room temperature. Don’t worry if the sauce seems a bit too thin at first, it will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving to loosen it up again.

Pumpkin Shortbread with Caramel and Pretzels

This weekend there are lots of events going on in our neighborhood!  I woke up to lots of barking from the 9th Annual Mutt Strut.  It took a LOT of restraint to not adopt the adorable 3 year old black pug the Chicago Canine Rescue group brought.  He was so cute and sweet.  Luckily I have my dad to call and bring me back down to reality instead of adopting puppies on a whim!

Then, the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce hosted a dessert potluck just around the corner.  I wanted to bring a fun fall dessert and I'd been eyeing this recipe all week.  It was the perfect excuse!



We all thought these were a delicious treat, and based on their tweet, I think the Chamber of Commerce and my neighbors enjoyed them as well.  They were sweet and a little bit salty, and plenty buttery.  I had these adorable apple napkins left from Rosh Hashana, which made them perfect for serving on.  Speaking of Rosh Hashana, I've been holding out on you with some really great recipes.  I promise, I will be posting my new favorite brisket recipe soon. It's amazing!!



Pumpkin Shortbread with Caramel and Pretzels
slightly adapted from Sugarcrafter

Ingredients
pumpkin shortbread
cooking spray
1 3/4 c AP flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 tbsp pumpkin puree
10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces
caramel
12 tbsp butter
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 tbsp honey
topping
1 c crushed pretzels

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line an 8" square baking dish with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin, and butter. Pulse until combined and when you press the mixture together with your fingers it sticks together like dough.
3. Press into the prepared dish and pierce all over with a fork. Bake 5 minutes, then lower the oven to 300F and bake and additional 30-40 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
4. In a deep glass bowl, melt the butter. Stir in the condensed milk and honey. Whisk until well combined. Heat in the microwave 7 minutes until boiling, stirring every 30 seconds. Don't walk away, because it can boil over! The caramel is ready when thickened and light golden brown.
NOTE: If you are multitasking and put the microwave on for 7 minutes and totally forget about it and don't stir it every 30 seconds, and when you remove it from the microwave it looks like butter with brown clumps at the bottom - don't think you TOTALLY ruined it. Sure it isn't perfect, but if you stir constantly with a spatula for long enough, it will still turn back into caramel. Not that I would know from experience or anything... oops.
5. Pour the hot caramel over the cooled cookie layer. Sprinkle the crushed pretzels over the caramel layer.
6. Cool to room temperature, then place in the fridge and allow to cool completely. Cut into small square and serve.

Graham Cracker Torte

One of my absolute favorite blogs is Eat, Live, Run.  I feel like I know Jenna from reading it all the time.  Jenna's photos are wonderful, her comments are witty, but more importantly her recipes are awesome.  I've reviewed many an ELR recipe here on yelleBELLYboo - kicked up meatloaf, ratatouille, turkey burgers with spinach and feta/goat cheese, blackberry and orange zest muffins, and whole wheat fig newtons to name a few - and for the most part I've enjoyed them all.  But since Jenna is a baker by trade, I needed to try more of her baked goods.




Recently, Jenna challenged herself to bake through her great-grandmother's recipe box.  I've enjoyed seeing all the interesting 1920s recipes she's trying, and was especially intrigued by this graham cracker torte, which her grandmother apparently had written up on multiple recipe cards.  I've never made a cake that actually doesn't have any flour - I had to give this one a shot.



Last year, I tried to make birthday cakes for everyone on my team at work.  It got to be a little too much work and I haven't done quite as well this year.  However, one of my coworkers has always been so nice - bringing me treats from the potato chip factory, getting an ice cream cake for another coworker's birthday, bringing me the coupons every week - so for her birthday another coworker and I decided to bake her this cake.  She's not a huge chocolate person (much like myself) so this cake seemed like something she would enjoy.



I have to admit, this cake isn't the easiest thing to make.  At one point, I had to use both my standing mixer and my hand mixer (maybe I should buy a 2nd bowl for my standing mixer?) and the steps seemed endless.  When I went to get the cakes out of the tins, it was an utter failure.  I wish I had lined the bottom with parchment.  In the end, once I added the whipped cream, you couldn't really tell what a mess I had made, but it wasn't exactly the gorgeous torte that Jenna assembled.  Plus I definitely cooked and curdled the eggs in the caramel and had to strain it, but I don't think it mattered too much in the end.



So even though this was absolutely not the prettiest cake I've ever made, the taste was outstanding.  The cake is somewhere between a sponge and a meringue, but nutty with a nice crunch.  The whipped cream made a perfect frosting to counteract the sweet caramel.  The birthday girl loved it and said she'd be making it again.  Our office finished it in record time - less than half an hour until the serving plate was licked clean.  Absolutely a hit!  I think I'm getting quite the reputation for making the best-tasting ugly cakes of all time - a reputation I'm just fine with!



Graham Cracker Torte
from Eat, Live, Run

Ingredients:
for torte:
6 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (a little less than two sleeves of graham crackers)

for caramel sauce:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1 well beaten egg
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar

for assembly:
1 pint heavy cream

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Beat egg yolks until light and frothy (I used the whisk attachment of my standing mixer). Add sugar, baking powder and vanilla and continue to beat until very thick and pale in color. Set aside.
3. Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into egg yolks and then fold in the nuts and graham cracker crumbs.
4. Divide batter into two WELL GREASED 9-inch cake pans (I recommend putting a piece of parchment on the bottom of the pans as well) and bake for 35 minutes. Let cool before turning cakes out of pans onto plates or a counter top.
5. To make the caramel sauce, combine all ingredients in a saucepot and bring to a boil whisking the whole time. Don’t stop whisking or the egg will cook and curdle, which isn’t the end of the world (just strain the caramel through a mesh strainer after it cools) but it can be prevented by whisking constantly until the sauce is very thick and boiling. Remove sauce from heat and let cool completely.
6. To assemble the torte, whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Spread whipped cream between graham cracker layers and over the top of the torte. Pour on the cooled caramel sauce and it let drip down the sides.
Keep the torte in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Chocolate Caramelized Matzo

I tried to make a flourless chocolate cake for Passover and it really didn't come out well.  My aunt was visiting and suggested I make chocolate covered matzo - it is easy and everyone loves it.  It was a great suggestion!

What really sets this matzo apart is the carmel crunch.  It isn't hard to make but it adds that extra something that makes you eat enough to motivate a long run the next day.

I used bittersweet chocolate because that's what I had leftover from my failure flourless chocolate cake.  I'm not even a big chocolate person, but I love this recipe.



If you're having a lot of people, you can break this up into a lot of pieces and it will go pretty far.  I was surprised but I did have some leftover after my 20 person seder.

Did I mention how good this is?  Go make it.  Now.  Quick, before Passover ends!

Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzoh Crunch
From David Lebovitz
Makes approximately 30 pieces of candy

Ingredients:
4 to 6 sheets unsalted matzohs
1 cup margarine, cut into chunks
1 cup firmly-packed dark brown sugar
big pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (160g) semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate)

1 cup (80g) toasted sliced almonds (optional)

Instructions
1. Line a rimmed baking sheet (approximately 11 x 17″, 28 x 42cm) completely with foil, making sure the foil goes up and over the edges. Cover the foil with a sheet of parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

2. Line the bottom of the sheet with matzoh, breaking extra pieces as necessary to fill in any spaces.

3. In a 3-4 quart (3-4l) heavy duty saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the mixture is beginning to boil. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add the salt and vanilla, and pour over matzoh, spreading with a heatproof spatula.

4. Put the pan in the oven and reduce the heat to 350F (175C) degrees. Bake for 15 minutes. As it bakes, it will bubble up but make sure it’s not burning every once in a while. If it is in spots, remove from oven and reduce the heat to 325F (160C), then replace the pan.

5. Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes, then spread with an offset spatula.

6. If you wish, sprinkle with toasted almonds (or another favorite nut, toasted and coarsely-chopped), a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, or roasted cocoa nibs.

Let cool completely, the break into pieces and store in an airtight container until ready to serve. It should keep well for about one week.

Note: If you are strictly following Kosher Passover rules, omit the vanilla extract or find a kosher brand.

Easy Caramel Cake

It's a blizzard in DC!  It isn't very often that we get to say that and it is a HUGE deal that it's happened more than 1 year in a row.  People are totally freaking out!  But that doesn't mean we can't have cake!

I have become the official birthday cake baker in my office.  And also when people have big anniversaries with the company.  I've been going through lots of sugar lately.

I never make the same cake twice.  I've made a big variety since I started baking for everyone in September.  I never made the same cake twice!

First, I made the best chocolate sheet cake ever with the best frosting I've ever had courtesy of tasty kitchen.  Not too sweet and really good - but the frosting was hard to make.  Then the white chocolate cake that was supposed to have the best frosting I've ever had on it, but due to a major disaster (the frosting broke) all of the frosting had to be thrown out and it was instead covered with store bought lemon curd and toasted coconut.  Still, it came out really good and was enjoyed by all (even my coworker who hates coconut).  Then, for said coconut-hater's birthday, there was a chocolate meringue cake that despite being unable to open the hazelnuts and therefore omitting them AND accidentally using unsweetened chocolate, was the biggest hit to date.  Lots of emails in the following days asking for the recipe.  And, although it looks very impressive with the meringue on top, it really wasn't that difficult!  Most recently, for a 5th anniversary with the company of my coworker who makes the best korean pork I've ever had, there was a lemon loaf cake.  I halved the recipe and only made one.  It was very yummy but I was too lazy to force all of the syrup into it so it was a little dry.

And now, for another coconut hater, I decided to try an Easy Caramel Cake that Perry's Plate just posted last week.  And it really was easy!

The frosting made a lot more than I needed to cover the cake.  My roommate and I ended up taking spoons to the extra and now I have a bit of a tummy ache.  But that frosting was goooood!

Everyone in the office seemed to like it.  People did think it was a little sweet (gee, it only had like 3 BOXES of sugar in it) but still enjoyed it.  Even the big boss happened to be in town and popped into my office to say he enjoyed it.  I think it would be the perfect cake for a kid's birthday party! (especially a kid who wasn't a huge chocolate fan)

Easy Caramel Cake

For the cake:

1/2 cup buttermilk

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces and softened

For the frosting:

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces and softened

2 cups packed dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups powdered (confectioners') sugar, sifted

To make the cake: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

Whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in a large measuring cup (or small bowl). In a large bowl (or the work bowl of a stand mixer) mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in the butter, one piece at a time, until only pea-sized pieces remain. Pour in half of the buttermilk mixture and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.  Slowly add the remaining buttermilk mixture to the bowl and beat until incorporated, about 15 seconds.

Divide batter between prepared pans and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool the cakes for about 10 minutes, the turn out onto wire cooling racks. Allow them to cool off completely, about 1 hour.

To make the frosting: Heat 8 tablespoons of butter, brown sugar, and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat until small bubbles appear around the edge of the pan, 4-8 minutes. Whisk in the cream and cook until a ring of bubbles reappears, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.

Allow frosting mixture to cool slightly (about 5 minutes), then transfer to a mixing bowl (or work bowl of a stand mixer). With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar until incorporated. Increase speed to medium, and beat until the frosting is pale brown and just ward, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 4 T of butter, one piece at a time, and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

To assemble the cake, Place one cake round on a cake stand or platter. Spread 3/4 cup of frosting over the cake, top with the second layer, then spread the remaining frosting all over the cake. Serve.

Makes about 12 servings.