Daring Bakers Challenge - November 2008

So I finally got back on the wagon, the baking wagon that is and decided to commemorate this Thanksgiving by making the Caramel Cake with Caramel frosting. The challenge was thought up by not one, not two but three daring bakers:

Dolores, of the blog Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity
Alex, from Blondie and Brownie
Jenny of Foray into Food
and for all those with gluten-free challenges (which thankfully I don't have), the hosts turned to Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go

Now on with the challenge! The actual recipe came from this site and was authored by Shauna Fish Lydon. You can find the recipe and instructions at website.

I was going to link to her name and bio, but this post has too many links and not enough cake in it yet.

The cake itself was relatively easy to make; however, the actual baking time was a half an hour longer than originally stated in the recipe, which did cut into baking time for other Thanksgiving treats. I was happy to see that the longer time didn't mean a messed up cake. Take a look for yourself,



Another thing I got to use in this challenge was my brand-spanking new candy and deep fat fryer thermometer! I was pleased to see that the "brown and smoking" sugar and water mixture needed for the caramel syrup was actually registered on the thermometer as "soft crack." My brothers got a kick out of that description.

In any case after much boiling and melting and mixing and baking, I ended up with this,



My only additional step that wasn't in the recipe was making a wash of dark rum and vanilla and brushing it all over the cake to add a little punch to all the sweetness.

Yum.