Olla-Podrida: toffee glaze

Showing posts with label toffee glaze. Show all posts

Monday, March 7, 2022

Apple Pecan Spice Cake with Toffee Glaze

I tend to indulge, perhaps overindulge, myself in magazine subscriptions. What can I tell you? I love periodicals. One of the magazines to which I subscribe is Bake from Scratch. I’m not quite sure why I subscribe to this one because, as I have mentioned before, I don’t bake, but there are so many wonderful things to look at in every issue that my subscription continues on. Last month, I found myself being unable to resist the “Bundt of the Month,” and had to make it. What a wonderful cake! Not all Bundt cakes or company worthy, but this one certainly is. The toffee glaze alone I could eat with a spoon.

Apple Pecan Spice Cake with Toffee Glaze

Ever so slightly adapted from Bake from Scratch

1¾ c. firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 c. canola oil

¾ c. sour cream, room temperature

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 T. vanilla extract

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. kosher salt

1 t. ground allspice

1 t. ground cinnamon

¾ t. ground nutmeg

¼ t. ground cloves

2 c. (¼-inch) diced peeled Melissa’s Granny Smith apples (about 2 large apples)

¾ c. roughly chopped toasted pecans

Toffee Glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat brown sugar, oil, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla at medium speed until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, kosher salt, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until combined. Fold in apples and pecans. (Batter will be thick and it may seem like you have too many apples, but it will be fine.)

Spray a 10-cup Nordic Ware Bavaria Bundt Pan with baking spray with flour. Using a pastry brush, spread any excess spray in pan, blotting brush with a paper towel as needed. Using a ¼-cup spring-loaded scoop, transfer batter to prepared pan. Tap pan on counter several times to spread batter into grooves and release any air bubbles. (The pan will be quite full, but the batter will not overflow.)

Bake until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out with a few moist crumbs, 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Using a small offset spatula, gently loosen cake from center of pan. Invert onto a wire rack placed over a rimmed baking sheet, leaving pan on cake; let stand for 10 minutes. Remove pan, and let cool completely.

Spoon part of Toffee Glaze all over cooled cake. To coat sides, drizzle with additional Toffee Glaze, and spread with back of spoon. Garnish with pecans and sea salt, if desired. Let stand for 15 minutes; transfer cake to a serving plate. Serve with any extra Toffee Glaze.

Makes 1 (10-cup) Bundt cake

Toffee Glaze

1 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar

⅔ c. dark corn syrup

⅓ c. heavy whipping cream

¼ c. unsalted butter, cubed

¼ t. kosher salt

½ t. vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, bring brown sugar, corn syrup, cream, butter, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat; cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla. Transfer mixture to a medium heatproof bowl. Let cool for 20 minutes. Use immediately.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Caramel Pound Cake with Salted Toffee Glaze

Some of you may recall from earlier blog posts, that Bundt cakes are my nemesis. I have made many a Bundt cake, all with disastrous results. Finally, in desperation, I washed up my cathedral style Bundt pan for the last time, and slipped it into the donation box. I should have let it go at that, but the fact that I couldn't make a good Bundt cake continued to haunt me. So, I treated myself to a new pan -- this one -- and took the advice of a lot of you who told me to try using Baker’s Joy. As you can see from these pictures, my luck has most definitely changed! The new Bundt pan, with simpler, more traditional lines, coupled with the Baker’s Joy, was 100% successful. Thank you all very much.

Last Sunday I went to dad's house for a visit. I am so tired these days from getting up early to greet the contractor that I'm literally stumbling with fatigue. As you know, I like to take at least one meal to dad with me when I go -- often two -- but I was just too tired to make anything other than a cake. Dad tends to like pound cake because, like me, he thinks it works equally well at breakfast as it does for dessert. This cake does particularly because, despite what appears to be an awful lot of sugar, it's not overly sweet. My fear was that it was going to be cloying, but no. This is a wonderful cake. Dense, slightly sweet, tasting nicely, but not too much, of caramel, with a wonderful salted toffee glaze that takes it over the top.

This is a recipe I'll make again and again, not only because it's so easy, but because it's so darned good. (As it turned out, dad really dodged a bullet by my not making him a meal this past week. My plan was to make him chicken chow mein. It was a new recipe, and not particularly a good one, so I will not speak of it again.)

Do give this cake a try; it's tasty and different from your average Bundt, and don't forget the Baker’s Joy!

Caramel Pound Cake with Salted Toffee Glaze

1 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease and flour (or spray with Baker’s Joy) a 10-12 cup Bundt pan.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, Crisco, and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; stir in vanilla.

Sift together 2 1/2 cups flour and baking powder, and add alternately to mixture with the 1 cup of milk.

In a small bowl stir pecans with 1/2 cup flour to coat; fold pecans into batter.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 70 to 90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the pan to stand for 10 minutes after removing from oven and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. When cake is cool, drizzle with Salted Toffee Glaze (recipe below).

Salted Toffee Glaze

From The Café Sucre Farine

5 tablespoons salted butter

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

⅓ cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

⅔ cup sifted powdered sugar

Flaking sea salt

Combine the butter, dark brown sugar, heavy cream and salt in a heavy sauce pan and bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for ONE minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract. Add about ½ cup of the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Continue to whisk in powdered sugar by the tablespoon until you reach your desired consistency. Place on a serving platter or cake stand and pour the salted toffee icing over the top. Sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt.

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