Burnt Sugar Cake Recipe

What next, cat blogging?

If you guys remember and are nice, I’ll post the family’s Honey Cream Peach Pie recipe when the peaches are in season (for those of you in warm states when peaches are in season a lot more than the four weeks we have them, just hush up, you’ll have to wait until it is peach season on the Western Slope).

Burnt Sugar Cake

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup hot water

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

2 1/2 teaspoons Watkins baking powder (well, you know, it is a Watkins cookbook)

1/2 teaspoon Watkins Salt

1 1/2 cups Watkins sugar

1/2 cup Watkins vegetable shortening

2 Watkins eggs

1 teaspoon Watkins vanilla (this one is for real)

Melt the 1/2 cup of sugar in a heavy skillet, stirring constantly, and allow the resulting syrup to cook until very dark brown.  Add the 1/2 cup of boiling water gradually, stirring constantly, and cook until the consistency of molasses.  (should measure 3 tablespoons.) Combine syrup with remaining cup of hot water and set aside to cool.  Sift flour once, measure and resift with the baking powder, salt and sugar.  Add the shortening and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or with the electric mixer until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the eggs and 1/3 cup of th water and syrup and beat for 2 minutes by hand or on medium speed of the electric mixer.  Add the remaining liquid and beat unti the batter is smooth.  Pour into 2 greased 9-inch layer cake pans and bake in a 375-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until done (we always used just one big cake pan, much, much better, don’t do the layers!!!).  Frost with 7-minute frosting flavored with burnt sugar syrup as prepared above.  The frosting is the best part, so don’t stop yet!!!

 Ruh-roh, must consult mom on the frosting recipe. I know it turned out almost like a caramel frosting, and this 7-minute referred to doesn’t get there.  Mom is out, I’ll post it tomorrow.

MOM’s back, have consulted on frosting recipe and declare the following to be the correct one:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup half & half or light cream

2 tbsp burnt-sugar syrup (make more than you need for the cake so you have this left)

In a saucepan, mix sugar, butter and half & half. Place over moderately high heat and cook stirring constantly, until mixture boils.  Add burnt-sugar syrup. continue to cook, without stirring until a candy thermometer registers 238 degrees or a small amount of mixture forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water.  Remove pan from heat.  Cool to almost room temp and beat well to proper spreading consistency.  Don’t beat it too long or this will turn into caramel and won’t spread at all.

 There is a banana cake recipe in here, if put with a sour cream frosting, is just out of this world.  Y’all want that next week?  We can all smell good and just get fat.

We have a special blogging project next Wednesday. If any perfume bloggers would like to play too, just click the Contact Us Button on the left there, and I’ll give you the details.