Salted Caramel Bundt Cake

I'm back! It's been months, but I yet again have necessary tasks to procrastinate and that necessitates baking!

I just got this wonderful recipe book called Cake Simple.

It's full of wonderful recipes for bundt cakes, both classic and innovative. I decided to inaugurate a new school year of procrastination a recipe for a Salted Caramel cake.

First, as in all baking recipes, preheat the oven.

Salted Caramel Syrup

2 c sugar

1 1/2 c water

1/4 tsp sea salt

In a medium saucepan, mix 1/2 c water with the sugar. Use a wet pastry brush to make sure there are no stray sugar crystals on the side of the pan. Cook over a high heat until the sugar turns dark amber. Don't stir! Swirl the pan to make sure the syrup caramelizes evenly.

When the sugar is the right color, slowly pour in the remaining water. If you pour it too fast, the caramel may bubble out of the pan, so go slow! Whisk the mixture until smooth. Whisk in the sea salt and let cool to room temperature. 

Use a pastry brush to coat all the nooks and crannies of your pan with melted butter, then dust with flour.

Subtly Salted Caramel Cake

1/2 c plus 2 T unsalted butter at room temperature

2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 1/4 c sugar

1/2 t vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c salted caramel syrup

1 c milk

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and then add the eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in the caramel syrup.Starting with the flour mixture, alternate adding the flour mixture and milk in increments. 

Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top, and bake for 45-55 minutes. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes. before inverting the cake onto a plate. 

Caramel Icing

2 T unsalted butter at room temperature
1 c powdered sugar

1/4 t vanilla

2 T salted caramel syrup

pinch of sea salt
1 T heavy cream

Whisk all ingredients together until well blended. Add more cream as needed to get a thick, pourable consistency. Drizzle the cooled cake with the icing.

DELICIOUS. This cake wasn't as strongly salted or as strongly caramel as I was expecting, but the beautiful subtlety won me over. The cake is moist, not too dense, and moderately sweet, while the icing really sings.

I will be taking this with me to work tomorrow so that I do not accidentally eat the entire cake myself by Tuesday morning.