Caramel Layer Cake

For my birthday this year, I wanted to make a different cake then the usual chocolate. After flipping through various recipes, I found this caramel layer cake that sounded interesting.

It was pretty easy to make, just make sure you have a lot of brown sugar! The cake turned out pretty good, it's a very dense cake, very sweet, and tasted a bit like coffee cake. The frosting is very thin, and the recipe for it produces a large batch. Next time, I would cut it in half as I didn't use it all.

I am not sure if this cake needs to be refrigerated, but I did just in case. I might leave it out next time I have a piece to see what the difference is at room temperature.

Enjoy!


Ingredients:

cake-

2 1/2 cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar, packed
5 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

caramel frosting-

2 cups brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and dust with flour.
2.) Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
3.) Cream the butter and brown sugar.
4.) Add eggs, one at a time, to the brown sugar mixture and beat after each addition.
5.) Stir the vanilla and milk together in a measuring cup.
6.) Add the milk and the flour to the brown sugar mixture, alternating each.
7.) Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cook in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack.
8.) Meanwhile, make the frosting. Combine the butter, sugar, and half-and-half in a pan. Bring to a boil and stir often.
9.) Cover and boil for 3 minutes, then uncover and let it boil until thick.
10.) Pour into a bowl and let cool a bit. Using a hand mixer, beat the frosting until it is thick and creamy. This will take a while!
11.) Put one cake on a plate, put frosting in the middle, put the other cake on top, the frost the entire cake.

*I believe this recipe is from Moosewood...though I could be wrong.