Skip to main content

Salted Caramel Cashew Cake

L. loves cakes with nuts, but there's only so many varieties of hazelnut and almond cakes one can do. I've done pistachios once, and we figured this year was going to be about cashews. There are surprisingly few recipes like this one on the web, and I did combine ideas from multiple recipes.

Here goes:

For the cake layers, I doubled the batch size from this recipe, and made some adjustments:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/caramel-cashew-cupcake-2282157

I reduced the sugar, doubled the cashews, substituted cake flour and buttermilk, and skipped the orange zest. I started with 1 cup of milk, added the juice of half a lime, and set it aside for 10 mins or so. In a 350 over, roasted 1 cup of cashew pieces till golden brown. Once cool, roughly chopped them. To the milk, add 1 cup of oil, four eggs and 1 tsp vanilla to the mix. In a bowl, add 2 1/4 cups of AP flour + 1/4 cup of corn starch, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 21/2 tsp baking powder. Mix everything, add the wet ingredients, and the roasted cashews, divide into 2 9" prepared cake pans and bake at 350 for about 30 mins. Cool on the rack.

For the frosting, here's the basic recipe I followed:
https://www.craftybaking.com/recipe/caramel-swiss-meringue-buttercream-tutorial

I did make more caramel (used some of it to make cashew brittles for the decoration), and extra sauce for drizzling on the cake).

1/4 cup water, 2 cups sugar. Once caramelized, use some for the cashew brittles (plain chopped cashews and pour on a Silpat). For the remaining, added about 11/4 cups heavy cream. Stirred until it all mixed and let cool.

For the butter cream, 7 eggwhites and 1/2 cup sugar over ban-marrie until sugar dissolves. Then beat using kitchen aid, and add 4 sticks of room temperature butter, 2 tbsp at a time.  Add caramel sauce and vanilla.

I actually had serious trouble with swiss meringue butter cream. The meringue separated, so I had to drain out the water, and add powdered sugar to get the right consistency. Luckily, it all worked out.

The frosting was enough for four layers, and some piping. I also used caramel for drizzling, and the cashew brittle for decorations. Served with extra sauce, and it turned out to be really really good. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rasiya Muthia

The Kathiawadi in me is somehow wide awake this winter...and I crave a lot of that rustic style food - adad ni daal, Olo... I came across this recipe for Rasiya muthia and made it today. http://foodgardenandfun.blogspot.com/2009/09/rasiya-muthiya-rice-dumplings-in-gravy.html I pretty much followed the directions, and got good results, except I couldn't prevent the yoghurt from curdling slightly...and added some sugar to the recipe..but it was delicious..It's the gujarati, vegetarian version of Matzo Ball soup...super healthy and very very comforting... Here's my version for a quick reference : Mash leftover rice, salt, haldi, mirch and Besan into a dough. Do not use water (or use sparingly). Make small dumplings (I made tiny round ones). Heat some ghee, add musturd seeds, let crackle, add zeera, curry leaves and hing. Add the chaas with grated ginger, haldi, red chilli, chopped cilantro, salt and sugar. Let it come to a boil, add the muthia, cover and cook for 8-10 mins til...

Guest post - Bhinda nu shaak

 This one is in memory of one of my best friends' mom....S. used to bring this in her lunchbox and I ate it all up....Today I wanted to make it for my daughter, so I called up S.'s older sister for the recipe..this one's for you, Masi!  Chop Bhinda in slices. Heat oil (slightly more, cause it's bhindi). Add mustard seeds, a few methi seeds (rai:methi=4:1), a pinch of hing and turmeric. Add bhinda, stir and cook on a medium flame without covering. Once it's almost cooked, add red chilli powder, dhana-jeeru powder, salt and a bit of sugar to taste. Finish cooking.  This recipe transports me right back to that corner house in Kharkar Ali...

Snow Day Chilli with Cheddar Biscuits

Perfect for those days when your heart refuses to believe that winter is here...even though you're snowed in.. I used instant pot, but any slow cooker would work. clean and soak 1 ancho chilli in warm water. blend into a smooth paste. Heat some oil, add 1 tsp whole cumin seeds, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 big white onion, diced, 1/2 big green pepper, diced, and saute for a few mins. Add 2 cans of black beans (with some of the cooking liquids), 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of hominy corn (optional), about half a cup of frozen corn, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp paprika, 2 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tsp roaster cumin powder, 1 tsp sugar, and kosher salt to taste. Add some water and put on slow cook for about four hours. Serve warm, topped with a bit of cheddar, sour cream, spring onion and cilantro. Biscuits: half cup A.P. Flour + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour + salt + pepper + 1 tbsp baking powder. Stir with a fork. Add 2-3 tbsp cold butter, diced, and work into the flour with the f...