The Cake Slice presents: Burnt Sugar Cake

First, sorry this is late. I was supposed to post on Nov. 20th, but with the holidays approaching things got a little crazy. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My vacation was wonderful, and we had lots of fun shopping on Black Friday! Now, onto the cake.....

I actually made this cake earlier in the month, but I'm just getting around to writing about it! It was delicious, and Josh loved it (which is always a good sign because he's usually a non-dessert person). The cake layers were soft and moist and had a wonderfully strong burnt sugar taste. The frosting was way too runny and sugary. So you know me, I made SMBC instead. Since I used all the burnt sugar syrup in the runny frosting fiasco, I made a homemade dark caramel sauce and just added it a little at a time to my SMBC until I got the flavor I was looking for. The end result was a gorgeous, amber-colored cake with silky smooth burnt sugar frosting! To get a look at what the other Cake Slicers came up with, check out The Cake Slice blogroll.

The burnt sugar syrup...

Burnt Sugar Cake (from "Southern Cakes" by Nancie McDermott)

Burnt Sugar Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water

Heat the sugar in a cast iron skillet or another heavy bottomed pan with high sides. Heat over a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts into a clear brown caramel syrup. It should be the color of tea.
Gradually add the boiling water, pouring it down the sides of the pan so that if the syrup foams and bubbles up, you should be protected.
Continue cooking, stirring often, until the water combines with the syrup and turns a handsome brown syrup.
Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Store the cooled syrup in a sealed jar if not using right away.

Burnt Sugar Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (recipe above)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir with a fork to mix well. Stir the vanilla into the milk.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer at high speed for 2–3 minutes, until they are well combined. Stop now and then to scrape the bowl down. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well each time. Pour in 1/2 cup of the burnt sugar syrup and beat well.
Add a third of the flour mixture and about half of the milk, beating at a low speed, until just incorporated. Mix in another third of the flour and the rest of the milk. Finally, add the remaining flour.
Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched gently in the center and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan (It took closer to 35 minutes in my oven. This is very strange because usually my oven bakes fast...??).
Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Burnt Sugar Frosting
3 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (above)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 – 3 tbsp milk

In a large bowl, combine the confectioners sugar, the burnt sugar syrup, butter and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl now and then to bring the ingredients together.
Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and continue beating until the frosting is thick, soft, smooth and easy to spread. Add a little more sugar if it is thin, and a little more milk if it is too thick.

To Assemble
Place one layer, top side down, on a cake stand or serving plate. Scoop about ¾ cup of the frosting onto the cake and spread to the edges. Place the second cake layer over it, top side down. Frost the sides of the cake, and then the top until it is evenly covered.