Rachel Khoo's Salted Butter Caramel Drizzle Cake
Star of The Great Australian Bake Off and friend of Mud Australia, Rachel Khoo lets us in on her delicious recipe for spiced and salted caramel carrot cake.
Based in Sweden, Rachel was inspired by the celebration of Kanel bullens dag (aka cinnamon bun day) to make a warming cake that celebrates the end of summer in the northern hemisphere.
There's something about Autumn and the darkness drawing in that makes me want to put cinnamon in everything. Might have to do with the Swedes loving cinnamon. Last month on the 4th October the Swedes celebrated Kanel bullens dag (transl. cinnamon bun day). My local bakery had a queue around the block, selling over 800 buns in one day.
Cinnamon has to be one of the sweetest spices and it brings out the natural sweetness in dishes (cinnamon being a tree bark contains natural sugars). But it's not only the sweetness, it's when the spice wafts through the air I immediately think of snuggling up on the sofa with a good book or movie, a steaming mug of tea in one hand and a delicious slice of cake in the other.
This cake is probably one of the cakes I make the most (or a version of it). The base is a warm fragrant cinnamon carrot cake with the slightest touch of sweetness. Without the icing and salted caramel it makes a handy snack and freezes well too. I'm almost tempted to try a slice in the toaster and slather it with some peanut butter as I'm sure with it's almost banana breadish texture you could (let me know if you do).
A glamover in the form of a white blanket of cream cheese frosting and a sophisticated French salted butter caramel drizzle transforms the cake. And if you have a sweet tooth there's plenty of extra caramel sauce you can pour over your slice.
Serves 8-10
Preparation time 30 minutes
Baking time 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Cake
200g finely grated carrot
125g finely grated apple (2 apples)
200g sunflower oil
200g quark or full fat thick Greek yoghurt
4 tbsps golden syrup or light brown sugar syrup
3 eggs/150g eggs
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Generous pinch of salt
300g spelt flour
15g baking powder
Salted caramel
150g sugar
100g double cream
100g butter, in cubes
1 tsp sea salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
300g cream cheese
50g Sour cream
1-2 tbsp sugar
Equipment
Loaf baking dish*
Sugar thermometer
Method:
Preheat your oven to 160c fan forced.
Mix the oil, quark, eggs, cinnamon, golden syrup and salt until you have a smooth mixture and fold in the carrot and apples. In another large bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. Mix both together and pour into a lined or buttered and floured cake tin and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Meanwhile make the caramel
Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar into a light coloured pan on a medium high heat. Once the sugar has melted sprinkle more sugar into the pan until everything is used. Continue cooking until the caramel has reached a dark amber colour. Take off the heat and add the salt and cream. Be careful as the caramel will splutter and release a lot of steam. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the caramel reaches 112c. Take off the heat and stir in the butter. Drizzle on the cake as desired.
Frosting
Mix cream cheese, sour cream with 1 tablespoons sugar (or a little more if desired) until smooth. Do not over mix. Spread onto cool cake.
Get ahead
The caramel can be made several days in advance and stored in a sterilised glass jar. The cake keeps for a couple of days in an airtight container
Top Tip
If you don't have a sugar thermometer you can do the "soft ball" test. Have a large glass of ice water ready and drop a tiny bit of the caramel into the water. If it forms a soft ball then they caramel has reached the right consistency.
*Loaf dish used in video is 17 x 28.5 x 7 cm Baker Small
About Rachel Khoo
An esteemed TV producer, presenter, podcast broadcaster, food writer and best-selling cookbook author and a global culinary consultant, Rachel Khoo brings a wealth of worldly knowledge (and multilingual language skills) to the table.
This recipe uses
Dinner Set Giveaway
To celebrate our partnerhip with Rachel Khoo, we will be giving away a Classic Dinner Set of four place settings to the value of £625.00 (UK), $847 (AU) or $783 (US).To enter, head follow this link.
T's & C's
This competition is open to paid Rachel Khoo subscribers who live in the UK, AU and USA and hold a delivery address in either of these three regions.The Mud Australia classic dinner set is non-transferrable and subject to stock availability. Mud Australia will take reasonable measures to ensure your prize is packaged carefully, but once the prize has been posted, Mud Australia and Rachel Khoo cannot be made responsible for any item delayed, lost or damaged in transit.
