In all seriousness though, I am very excited about the changes to the website, and to celebrate I made cappuccino bars. They are currently cooling on the kitchen counter and I don’t have any pictures of them. Instead I thought I would post a couple pictures and the recipe for this butterscotch layer cake I made months ago and never shared with you. I know! I have a lot of these posts that never made it to the site unfortunately. But don’t worry; I’m working on fixing this too.
There is a little story to this cake but for discretion’s sake I won’t go into too many of the details. Suffice it to say I was involved in an unpleasant misunderstanding with someone here in town for several years. We share many mutual friends so understandably this affected a large part of both of our lives. I had wanted to clear the air for months but just wasn’t quite sure how to do it. Amazingly, she had been feeling the same way and took the initiative to invite me over one night to a small get together at her house (where all my other friends were going to be as well, of course). As it turned out, the misunderstanding was completely unfounded and silly, and we both lamented the fact it had taken us FOUR YEARS to resolve it. Onward!
This cake is what I made to bring over that night, as a peace offering. The cake was really a bit over the top but is an accurate representation of just how thrilled I was to be finally moving beyond everything. Nothing says I am sorry, I am happy we can be friends, this has gone on way too long, like a dense, sweet, buttery, fattening, sugar filled, creamy frosting smeared cake.
This, or a bottle of whiskey, something we also had that night.
The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess. Sorry I don’t have photos of the finished product. Yet again, the drinks started flowing as soon as I walked in the door and I couldn’t be bothered with taking pictures of the cake all gussied up with frosting and drizzled butterscotch. Between you and me, I did think it looked rather obscene. Sort of like an overly eager 16-year-old-girl with too much make-up on, who you feel bad for because she is obviously trying too hard. I can't help it! I was just so happy to be there!
For the Icing:
1 c. sugar
½ c. cold water
1 ¼ c. heavy cream
14 ounces cream cheese at room temp.
For the cake:
1 c. unsalted butter, very soft
7 Tbs. brown sugar
½ c. sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 c. self-rising cake flour
2-4 Tbs. heavy cream
Grease and line 2 8x2 inch cake pans.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make the icing first by dissolving the sugar and water over low heat, remembering not to stir it at all while you do this. When it is dissolved, turn up the heat and boil it until it turns a dark golden color. This will take about 10-15 minutes.
Take off the heat and slowly whisk in the cream. Place back over for another minute, whisking until it is smooth and combined. Cool, and then refrigerate until you need it.
Put all the ingredients for the cake except the cream into the food processor and pulse until it is smooth. Scrape down the sides and then pulse again, this time adding a couple tablespoons of the cream. Check the consistency; if it is runny then stop, otherwise add 1-2 more tablespoons of cream.
Divide the batter into the two pans and bake for about 25 minutes. Turn out of pans and let cool on a wire rack.
Beat the cream cheese until softened and then add a cupful of the caramel. Beat gently to combine.
Put one cake layer on a plate. Using a spatula spread just under half of the icing over the top. Place the other cake on top and then ice the top of that cake with the remaining icing. Using a teaspoon drizzle some of the reserved caramel over the cake.
If we get in a fight, and I hold out for long enough....think you could bring one of these sugar logs out to me?
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