Caramel Apple Cake |
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Homemade cake just may become a thing of the past. It's a shame, but with all sorts of cookbooks touting the magic of mixes, it's no surprise. But before you forever swear off baking a cake from scratch, give this one a try. Even though it has three components (cake, filling, icing), none are difficult to execute. A single taste just may convince you to ban cake mixes from your kitchen! Caramel cake is a Southern tradition consisting simply of white cake frosted with a super-sweet caramel icing. This is one cake that's invited to (and shows up at) nearly every party. Where there is food, there is caramel cake -- potlucks, picnics, church suppers, everywhere. The big difference between that traditional cake and this one is a layer of tart, spicy sauteed apples in the middle. It is a departure from tradition, but given how perfectly suited caramel and apples are to each other, it's not a big leap at all. |
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Tips --- Baking the Cake --- This cake is easy, but it does need more attention that a boxed mix. Here is what to look out for. CREAMING: Properly creaming the butter and sugar aerates the batter and gives the cake a finer texture. To do it right, the butter must be room temperature, not hard or squishy, and the creaming time long, 4-5 minutes. ADDING INGREDIENTS: Add the egg whites a little at a time so they thoroughly blend into the butter. And by alternately adding dry and wet ingredients, the batter resists curdling (which is bad for the cake's flavor and texture). OVERMIXING: Take care not to ovemix the batter. It develops gluten (a protein), making the cake tough, and causes tunnel-like holes to form. To prevent it, add the last of the flour by hand. BAKING AND COOLING: Bake the cakes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool them in the pans a bit before turning out to cool completely --- do not assemble the cake with warm layers (they're not sturdy enough to support each other). Cooled, the layers may be frozen for up to a month. |
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Source Author: www.CusineAtHome.com |