I haven’t posted in a while
(holiday frenzy and all), so I thought I’d start the new year off with a simple
recipe that’s one of my new favorites. I’m a sucker for anything caramel,
particularly salted caramel, as long as it’s the real deal. Can’t stand
fake-tasting caramel, and there’s no reason for it, as caramel is pretty darned
easy to make, as long as you’re paying attention to it as it cooks. So here it
is, my brown sugar pound cake, flavored with a splash of dark rum and baked in
the Nordic Ware
Heritage Bundt pan (which is perfect for capturing pools of the
delicious caramel-nut topping). If you prefer, you can serve the caramel
topping as a sauce on the side with some nuts on top and a scoop of vanilla ice
cream or whipped cream. Possibly not in line with any of your New Year’s
resolutions, but, hey, you’re likely to break them as some point anyway, right?
Now’s as good a time as ever!
Makes one 10-inch cake, serving
10 to 12
Salted
Caramel Topping:
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted
butter, cut into 4 or 5 chunks
½ cup (113 g) heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Large pinch of salt (just over
1/16 teaspoon)
Pound
Cake:
2 ½ cups (331 g) all-purpose
flour
½ teaspoon (2.5 g/0.08 oz) baking
soda
½ plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
17 ½ tablespoons (247 g) unsalted
butter, softened
1 cup (200 g/7 oz) granulated
sugar
¾ cup firmly packed (162 g) light
brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or
extract
¾ cup (181 g) buttermilk
2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)
Garnish:
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Make
the topping:
1. Half fill a cup with water and
place a pastry brush in it (this will be used for washing down the sides of the
pan to prevent crystallization).
2. In a clean, heavy-bottomed
2-quart saucepan, stir together the sugar and water. Place the saucepan over
medium-high heat and cook, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan to
wash away sugar crystals, until the mixture starts to color around the edges.
Gently swirl the pan to ensure that the sugar caramelizes evenly. Continue to
cook until the sugar turns a medium amber color. Immediately remove the pan
from the heat and very slowly and carefully add the cream (the mixture will
bubble up furiously), stirring with a wooden spatula or spoon until smooth. If
there are any hardened bits of caramel sticking to the bottom of the pan, place
the pan over medium-low heat and stir until they are dissolved. Add the butter
pieces and stir occasionally until melted. Stir in the vanilla extract and
salt. Transfer to a glass measure, and let stand (without stirring), until
thickened (about 1 ½ hours).
Make
the cake:
3. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter
and flour a 10-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan (I used the Nordic Ware Heritage pan).
4. In a medium bowl, sift
together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
5. In the bowl of an electric
mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed
until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add both the sugars and beat at high
speed until light, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the
eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides
of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the vanilla and mix until
blended. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients in three
additions, alternating them with the buttermilk and rum in two additions and
mixing just until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the
top. Bake the cake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a
toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake
in the pan for 15 minutes.
6. Invert the cake onto a wire
rack and remove the pan. Cool completely.
Finish
the cake:
7. Transfer the cooled cake to a
serving plate or cake stand. Stir the caramel once or twice and slowly pour it
over the top of the cake, letting it pool a bit in the center. Sprinkle the
almonds on top of the caramel. Serve the cake at room temperature. Store under
a cake dome at room temperature for up to 4 days.
