So I'm finally back home and of course the first thing I had to do was bake a cake! I used to browse recipes to procrastinate during exams, so I now have a LOT of new stuff I want to try including pies and cupcakes. Unfortunately since I do not have the necessary pans etc, I just baked a cake. I was quite apprehensive about it because it was a type I had never tried before and it involved other cooking steps as well. Especially because going near the gas makes me nervous! Well the cake was made, and when I first tasted it, I didn't like it much. But after a day....in my opinion its one of the best cakes I have ever made. The cake itself was great, buttery and soft and the pear-caramel topping was yummy! This is one I will definitely try again some other time so that I can make it properly!
To make this cake, the brown sugar caramel needs to be made first.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of butter (approximately 3/4th of a slab of Amul butter small packet)
3/4th cup of brown sugar
I recently bought a packet of Bluebird demerara sugar for only 55 bucks. I think it was a fairly good investment, as I have many recipes which call for brown sugar and I ended up using normal sugar. Brown sugar gives a whole different flavour though! Anyway, going back to the recipe, place the butter in a pan, and keep swirling it until it just starts bubbling, which should take about 3 minutes. At this point it should be a nice brown colour. Then add the sugar and keep stirring with a wooden spatula until it melts and becomes a thick brown liquid. The butter and the caramel will seem to separate, but don't panic. After the caramel is made, immediately pour it into a cake pan lined with butter and keep it aside. Now for the cake!
Ingredients
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 slab of Amul butter plus the 1/4th left over after making the caramel
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 pears
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 F or 177 C. Cut the pears into thin slices and arrange them on the caramel in the cake pan. Sprinkle a little lemon juice on them to prevent browning.
Whisk the flour, cardamom and baking powder together and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time while continuing to beat. Add the vanilla extract. Then alternately add the flour mixture and the milk and beat until light and fluffy.
To make this cake, the brown sugar caramel needs to be made first.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of butter (approximately 3/4th of a slab of Amul butter small packet)
3/4th cup of brown sugar
I recently bought a packet of Bluebird demerara sugar for only 55 bucks. I think it was a fairly good investment, as I have many recipes which call for brown sugar and I ended up using normal sugar. Brown sugar gives a whole different flavour though! Anyway, going back to the recipe, place the butter in a pan, and keep swirling it until it just starts bubbling, which should take about 3 minutes. At this point it should be a nice brown colour. Then add the sugar and keep stirring with a wooden spatula until it melts and becomes a thick brown liquid. The butter and the caramel will seem to separate, but don't panic. After the caramel is made, immediately pour it into a cake pan lined with butter and keep it aside. Now for the cake!
Ingredients
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 slab of Amul butter plus the 1/4th left over after making the caramel
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 pears
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 F or 177 C. Cut the pears into thin slices and arrange them on the caramel in the cake pan. Sprinkle a little lemon juice on them to prevent browning.
Whisk the flour, cardamom and baking powder together and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time while continuing to beat. Add the vanilla extract. Then alternately add the flour mixture and the milk and beat until light and fluffy.
Spread the cake batter over the pears and bake for 40 minutes. This is the prescribed recipe time, but since ovens can be kinda unpredictable, I suggest you keep checking every 10 minutes by peeking to see whether the cake looks done or not. Mine got slightly ruined because it baked faster than I expected.
Take the cake out when ready and let it cool for a few minutes. Then hope for the best and turn the pan upside down and unmould the cake on to a nice plate and admire your creation!
Om nom nom nom! Can't wait to try it!
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