|
Burnt Sugar Cake
Carrie Boone's version of Burnt Sugar Cake is adapted from More Than Moonshine: Appalachian Recipes and Recollections by Sidney Saylor Farr (1983).
Burnt Sugar Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup very hot water
Melt the sugar in a cast iron skillet (10- or 12-inch is best) over medium heat. The less you stir it, the better. Once the sugar is all melted and the color of tea, pour a cup of very hot water down the sides of the pan. Stir it a little bit to incorporate, and then take off heat. Pour into a glass jar or heatproof glass measuring cup. This makes right around 1 cup of syrup. Make this at least an hour before you plan to make the cake to let it cool.
Cook's note: I always use a wooden spoon to stir this because the syrup is so hot.
Burnt Sugar Cake
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
1/2 cup burnt sugar syrup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. If you sift it a couple of times, it's better. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until peaks form, but they're not dry. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add two of the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each. Stir the vanilla into the milk. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk—starting and ending with flour. Stir in about 1/2 cup of the burnt sugar syrup. Fold in egg whites. Pour into greased and floured 9-inch pans and bake 20–25 minutes.
Cook's note: You will have a leftover egg yolk, but you can freeze it and use it later.
Icing
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 generous teaspoon vanilla
up to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
burnt sugar syrup
hot water as needed
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for two minutes, stirring. Stir in the half-and-half and return to a boil. Once it boils, remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Gradually beat in about a cup of powdered sugar. Pour in the vanilla and about a half cup of burnt sugar syrup (or however much you have left). Slowly beat in more powdered sugar until it looks kind of like peanut butter. If it's too stiff to spread on the cake, add hot water, one teaspoon at a time, until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
Cook's note: It took a long time and a lot of wasted cakes to find an icing that I like and that complements the cake and works reliably. (The most frequently given icing for this cake tastes like powdered sugar and isn't nearly sturdy enough to keep the cake from sliding all over the place.) This is basically a penuche icing with burnt sugar in place of some of the regular sugar. It's not traditional by any means (for a burnt sugar cake).http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/the-quest-for-an-elusive-taste-memory/Content?oid=1534049
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
