Southern Caramel Cake- The Easy Way

My desire is for my kids to have great memories of growing up in our house. When they get older, I want them to remember having wonderful homemade food, especially during holidays. Truth is, I want them to say nobody can cook like my mom! The problem is it is difficult to have time to do a lot of cooking and baking for one holiday meal.

My very favorite cake is an old fashioned caramel cake. Actually, it is not about the cake at all for me. It is all about the icing!! No soft fluffy icing on a caramel cake. The texture has to be slightly hard to the touch. The kind of icing that breaks when you stick your fork in it. Basically, the kind of caramel cake only our grandmothers and great aunts can make. I always say what are we going to do when that generation is gone. Who is going to make the caramel cake and the dressing?

I learned to make a cake like this several years ago and it pretty much takes me all day. The cake is easy but the icing is difficult. You have to have two pots of sugar cooking at once. One pot cooks at least twenty minutes. You have to use a candy thermometer and then beat it for twenty minutes and then it is hit or miss that it will turn out. Many times I have scraped off icing and started over because it hardens to fast. But when it works, it is heaven on a cake stand.

I got a free cake mix couponing last week. My son wanted caramel cake for his birthday cake, so I thought I would see if I could find a recipe using a cake mix on the Internet. This recipe was from food network. I made the cake with my caramel icing and the cake was wonderful. Everyone raved and raved over it. Three grandmothers here and they all said, “We can tell that this cake was made from scratch. We know Sherry would never use a mix.” I said it was made from scratch because I think that all the work that went into the icing counts as being from scratch. My family agreed that it was as good as my homemade recipe.

Since the cake was so easy and good, I thought I would try to find an easier icing with the same texture. I used the recipe that was on the same site as the cake recipe. It turned out to be pretty darn close without all the work. I will never use my old recipe again.

Spray your pans with cooking spray.

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl.

Mix and pour in cake pans. Bake the cake for 29 minutes. Use a toothpick to check for doneness.

Let cake cool completely before icing and I am serious, like at least a hour or more.

Ingredients for the icing. Get ready to work quickly!

Melt the brown sugars and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until it comes to a boil, about two minutes. Do not be tempted to cook on high heat.

Add milk, stir and bring mixture back to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat.

Add the confectioners sugar and the vanilla. Stir with a wooden spoon until it is smooth.

Quick, spread on cake while it is thin and warm. Here is a tip. If I am spreading icing between layers, I will make another recipe for the outside so that I will not be rushed.

Pour the icing in the center. You may have to move it to the sides with a cake knife. Place the top layer on top. I make a new batch here.

Pour icing in the center of the cake. It will start running off the sides. You probably will not have to smooth the top at all.

Take your cake knife and go around the sides, working quickly. It should be getting harder now. As it is running down the sides, keep turning and smoothing. It will not be perfectly smooth.

Heaven on a cake stand!

Caramel Cake

Ingredients

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix

1 cup whole milk

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Quick Caramel Frosting (see below)

Directions

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.

Place the cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minutes. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look well blended. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

Bake the cakes until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 27 to 29 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert them again onto another rack to that the cakes are right side up. Allow them to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

Meanwhile, prepare the Quick Caramel Frosting.

Place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with the warm frosting. Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with clean, smooth strokes. Work quickly, as the frosting will set. (If the frosting gets too hard to work with, place the pan back over low heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly, to soften it up.) Once the frosting has set, slice and serve.

Store this cake, covered in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 1 week or freeze, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight on the counter before serving.

Quick Caramel Frosting

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place the butter and brown sugars in a medium-size heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir and cook until the mixture comes to a boil, about 2 minutes. Add the milk, stir, and bring the mixture back to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat with a wooden spoon until the frosting is smooth.

Use immediately (while still warm) to frost the cake of your choice or the frosting will harden. If it does harden while you are frosting the cake, simply place the pan back over low heat and stir until the frosting softens up.

Makes 3 cups, enough to frost 2 layers. Printable Recipe