Daring Bakers: December 2008 Archives
Well, this month's Daring Bakers challenge was a Caramel Cake with Caramel Icing. The end product was a dense and moist cake with a slightly salty icing. I added some extra salt to the icing to enhance the caramel flavors. These were a big hit with the parents, and the toddlers who decided to try them.
Second, we have chocolate orange cupcakes with a cinnamon peanut-butter icing. These were 'normal' cupcakes in size and texture. The Caramel cupcakes were tiny little things. I cooked them in the 'fancy wrappers' and they released from the sides like the were supposed to. I decided to remove them from the wrappers for service. They were delicate and petite, but the density of the cake made up for the size. They were deceptively decadent and filling.
Third up were the vegan cupcakes with chocolate icing. The icing was the most interesting -- there seem to be two types of vegan icing. One is margarine based, so it is similar to buttercream, the other is like an overworked glaze. It is the exact recipe for a cocoa based corn starch pudding, cooked an whipped until it thickens well past the pudding stage, then cut with some oil. This lightens the recipe and makes for a very pleasant texture for icing.
All the cupcakes were a hit at the party.
This months challenge had us making browned butter, dark caramel, and a few other things that can be challenging to a baker. I had to make the caramel twice. The first attempt was a careless venture on my part. It all crystalized, so I opted to start over, instead of trying to cool and save it. The second attempt was perfect, and is still toping hot chocolate, and being used to flavor marshmallows and whipped cream!
The browned butter was simple. I opted to strain it through the chinois, then drip it through some coffee filters. This got all of the browned bits out, and left me with a rich, nutty, and smooth browned butter. Both if these added a complex flavor to the recipe, hinting savory bits along with the cloyingly sweet sugar. The addition of salt to the icing made a huge difference, and the flecks of Maldon salt gave a surprising burst of flavor when bitten into.
This months challenge was presented by Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity and Alex of Blondie and Brownie and Jenny of Foray of Food. Shuna Fish Lydon's Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting was the recipe we followed. I really enjoyed the challenge, an will make this cake again.
The little chef was very interested in what was going on. He loves the stand mixer and pretty much any thing else you can plug in. He helped me make a few of the items, and then we made some snack mix for him. He had a blast with the recipes.
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