Caramel Cake!!

Remember the garage scene in Kill Bill-1. How ‘The bride’ spots a garish yellow truck with the words Pussy wagon spray-painted on the tailgate, she climbs onto the backseat with difficulty and rests. She struggles to move her feet and  keeps repeating "Wiggle your big toe," Nothing happens. She repeats the line again, and again and again. Big-ups to this moment of cinematic brilliance which is almost the apt metaphor describing the  struggle to get my blog movin again :) :)

While my blog was at it, I was diligently baking at home and working not so diligently at the bank, met more people and made new friends than I ever did before, started drinking beer without making a funny face, ate beef like it should be eaten chewed and swallowed and not down it with water but the dislike stays, read a lot more ( if reading blogs counts  i.e) ,  
added expensive chocolate, real vanilla and 5  types of sugar to my pantry and finally graduated from baking basic chocolate cakes to more complex breads and pies. I now have a well organised baking corner where my whisk and Spatula's are at arm’s length, equipped it with nifty kitchen tools that I cant stop buying, a well stashed fridge with hard to find ingredients sitting pretty. Ever growing list of things to bake and books to buy.  All the right things just to make the baker in me happy.

And to Celebrate the coming back of my blog i leave you with a very simple to make  buttermilk Cake Topped with  a smooth creamy caramel glaze ...believe me when i tell you the caramel glaze was outstanding, the texture was smooth like butter,  just the right amount of sweetness  and butterscotch taste,  just the right qualities to be called holy goo!! 

Caramel Cake!!

Caramel Cake.

Adapted from-  Lottie+Doof

For the Cake:

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour ( I substituted cake flour with ‘2 cups + 2 tbps All Purpose flour’ + 5 tbsp Cornflour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (Omit salt if using salted butter)
• 1 stick (4 oz)/ 113 grams unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk ( I made buttermilk using 3/4^th cup Yogurt + 1/4^th cup milk)

For the Caramel Glaze:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (I  used 1/4^th cup dark brown + 1/4^th cup regular White sugar)
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 To make the cake

• Preheat oven to 180°C , Butter and line an 8X8  square cake pan
• Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt leave aside
• Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 mins. Add in vanilla. and beat for less then a min
•  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition for about a min.
•  At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture may look curdled).
•  Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.
• Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then tap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. 
• Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, flip cake so it is right-side up and then cool completely, about 1 hour.

To make the glaze:

• Bring cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
• Boil until glaze registers 210 to 212°F on thermometer, 12 to 14 minutes, then stir in vanilla.
• Put rack with cake in a shallow baking pan and pour hot glaze over top of cake, allowing it to run down sides. Cool until glaze is set, about 30 minutes.