Are you searching for a birthday cake that's elegant,
but is also family-friendly?
Look no further, I've got the cake for you.
My salted caramel layer cake is definitely a crowd pleaser,
and it's about not just the sweetness of caramel,
but some amazing textures at the same time.
So, let's start with the creaminess
of a salted caramel sauce.
This is at the heart of the recipe.
So, I've got a pot on the stove,
and I'm just going to pour in about a quarter cup of water,
enough to cover the bottom of the pot.
And I'll pour in two cups of granulated sugar.
I'll add a teaspoon of lemon juice.
That helps keep the sugar liquified
as I turn it on high right now.
You want to keep a little dish with water handy,
and a brush, because as the sugar liquefies and cooks,
it starts bubbling up.
And as it bubbles up, it might spit on the side of the pot
and leave a little droplet of sugar.
If that cools, it could crystallize,
and then, just like frost,
that crystal grows another crystal and another.
And all of a sudden, your sugar goes back to a solid state.
So, by brushing the sides of the pot with water,
you know you're going to have a clear fluid, caramel.
All right, we're starting to get some color,
and you're looking for a nice, golden amber color.
It will intensify as you add your cream and butter,
so I'm going to take this off the heat now,
and now I'm going to pour in one cup of cold whipping cream.
Whew, watch out for that steam and those bubbles.
You can add it a little at a time, let it settle down.
Settle down.
It's a good idea to have your cream and your butter
measured and ready before you start your caramel sauce.
And then, once you no longer see any bubbling,
you know it's stopped boiling,
then you start adding your butter.
You want to add your butter a little at a time.
There we go.
Now, how much salt you choose to add really is up to you.
I find two teaspoons is good,
and I like to use the flaked sea salt.
All right, now I made this first
because I need to set it aside to cool,
so I'll pop it over here.
And that leaves me time and space to take care of my cake,
and I start by sifting two cups of all-purpose flour,
and three quarters of a cup of granulated sugar,
and half a teaspoon of salt.
Give this a quick little sift.
And now I can add my three quarters of a cup
of dark brown sugar.
It's the molasses in any brown sugar
that we love the taste of, that reminds us of caramel.
Next, the butter, half a cup of unsalted butter,
slightly softened, and on.
(mixer whirs)
Almost there.
There we go.
Once you no longer see large pieces of butter,
now you know you're ready to add your liquids.
I've got three eggs and two-thirds of a cup of buttermilk.
And lastly, two teaspoons of vanilla extract.
(gentle pop music)
After adding the liquids,
I let the batter mix on medium high speed
for about a minute to two minutes,
until it's nice and smooth
and you can see it's developed some structure.
So, you can add your baking soda to your cake recipe
at the very end.
I have one teaspoon here, and to activate it now,
I have a tablespoon of white vinegar.
And this is all set for my 350 oven,
and these cake layers take 25 to 30 minutes.
What I like with a caramel-based dessert
is a little bit of crunch, a little textural contrast,
and so I'm making a cookie crumble,
and I'll sprinkle that in between the layers of the cake
and use it as part of the decor.
I start with a cup of all-purpose flour,
and I'll add a third of a cup of dark brown sugar.
I've got a quarter cup of granulated sugar,
a pinch of sea salt, and six tablespoons of unsalted butter.
And you can use two knives or a pastry blender.
This takes about 20 minutes to bake,
and you want to stir it once, halfway through.
That way, your outside pieces don't brown too much
before the inside has crisped up.
And it's in the same temperature oven as the cake,
so I can pop it right in at 350.
And look at these cake layers.
They even take on a caramel color,
so you know every bite of that cake
is going to have sea salt, caramel goodness.
So, let's make this frosting.
I have two cups of butter,
and then I'm going to add one and a half packages
of cream cheese, 375 grams.
(mixer whirs)
Now, the ingredients are soft, but not smooth yet.
I need my one and a quarter cups of icing sugar
to melt in there.
To really take it to the next level of fluffiness,
I will add two teaspoons of vanilla.
To bring out that sea salt flavor, a pinch of sea salt,
and I am saving the best for last,
a quarter cup of that sea salt caramel sauce
that I made earlier.
(mixer whirs)
Now, I'm ready to assemble the cake.
Here we go.
(gentle pop music)
First layer.
I'm going to put a sprinkling of the cookie crumble,
a nice drizzle of that cool caramel sauce.
Then goes the next.
Now, for the layer on top,
I definitely put on some more frosting.
Now, before you put on your decor,
you need to let this cake chill a good hour
to let this layer of frosting set.
Ah, there we go.
A chilled cake is so much easier to decorate,
especially if you're going to do a drip cake.
So, I'm going to take the beautiful consistency
of the sea salt caramel and add drips.
You change the pressure
so that the drips aren't exactly the same.
It's supposed to look like
it's just intending to drip on purpose.
I love that.
The cooled cookie crumble.
So, it's crisp, I've got nice little chunky pieces.
Just a little more caramel, right on top,
a little shine.
This cake tells you such a story.
You know exactly what's going on inside,
and it's fun and a bit playful,
yet elegant at the same time,
so you know this is a birthday cake
the whole family will enjoy,
and I know you will enjoy baking it.