Monday, October 06, 2008

Tuesday's With Dorie Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake!

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So I did it, I made my first Tuesday's With Dorie recipe with all the other baker's in the group.  This was quite the cake!  I thought it was going to be more brownie like, but mine was a really dense chocolatey cake.  It was good and I loved the caramel and peanuts on top.  It would be fun to try other nuts, too.  Who is Dorie Greenspan?  Well, you should know she is an amazing baker and cook book author and I highly recommend her book, Baking From My Home to Yours.  This book has some GREAT recipes in it!

I baked up the cake without incident.  It did just as Dorie suggested it might, rose up high in the oven and while cooling, sank a little in the center.  Good thing she put that in the recipe, or I might have thought I'd done something wrong.

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On to the caramel!  I was actually not real thrilled with the idea of making homemade caramel, it has just always seems hard, I guess.  But I'm doing this weekly baking group to expand my skills, so here I go, or there I went.  The recipes says to put the sugar, some water and corn syrup in a pot on the stove and do not stir it for ten minutes.  I did that, then you're supposed to check for a dark amber color to the sugar and that is how you decide when it is ready for the next step.  So, after the ten minutes, my sugar had just barely started getting any color.  I had noticed other baker's who were mentioning theirs took more like 15-20 minutes.  I set the timer for 2 minutes, but fully intended to keep an eye on it.  Well, that was when my son, Parker decided he really wanted to show me that he can tie his shoes-finally.  So I stepped in to the living room to watch him.  During the tying, I started smell that smell, you know, that smell that you never want to smell in the kitchen--something burning!  I jumped up and ran in to see my caramel went from barely any color to, well, hmmm, let's say a deep, dark auburn--burn being the key word there, within about one minute!

DARN!

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Well, I'm not up for failure, so I got a new pot and started again.  This time letting the kids know I could not be "bugged" for a matter of time.  I stayed with the caramel and got through the ten minutes of watching the sugar boil and not touching it.  Sure enough right at about 11 minutes, it was perfectly dark amber.  I quickly removed it from the heat, added some cream and butter and was much more delighted than 15 minutes prior to that!

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Onto the peanuts.  I found these peanuts at the store, haven't seen them before and was excited to try them.  It says they are extra crunchy and THEY ARE!  I like them.  (There is no added sugar.) 

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The family oohed and ahhed as I brought it to the table, just as Dorie said they should/would.  It wasn't until slicing it and serving it and of course, tasting it that we realized it was more cake-like than brownie-like, but I was delicious!  I ate a few too many bites of it, considering my "diet", but I love the caramel-peanuts!  I really only ate a tiny sliver of a piece, but kept picking at the peanuts.  (Now they had added sugar!) ;)  Some in the family liked it, some didn't like a few of my little boys who just don't have very "sophisticated" taste at their young age.  I took four big slices to the neighbors and I'm sure I'll be hearing raves about it from them. 

 

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Want some?  Get Dorie's book and make this cake!  You won't be sorry! ;)

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Thanks to Tammy of wee treats by tammy for this week's TWD pick!  You can find the recipe on Tammy's blog.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to TWD! Good job giving the caramel another go. That slice looks scrumptious. I couldn't stop picking at the peanuts, either!

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I'm sure you're gonna have fun baking with all the TWDers. I allways enjoy reading all the posts on tuesday and see what the different people take on the recipe. I really must buy the book allready!
It does look like a cake and not a brownie, but maybe if it was a brownie-brownie it would be tooooooo rich!
Sorry about the caramel, but hey, glad you tried it again!

Shelby said...

Those are the exact same peanuts I used! Your last photo looks awesome! I'm glad you didn't give up on the caramel. I didn't make it, but will try it in the future....maybe for some ice cream!

Amanda said...

I'm new to TWD also and will be making this today. I've been reading everyone's comments in an effort to not burn or overcook LOL! Yours look fabulous!

Pamela said...

Your cake looks awesome! And WELCOME to TWD! This was a great cake to start on, huh? This is one I've been eying for LONG time. I am definitely going to make the caramel again. I want to know that I can do it!

spike. said...

That looks great, glad the caramel worked for you on the second try! welcome to twd

Anonymous said...

That photo is gorgeous!!! Haha I love your description of the burning smell! And then you run back into the kitchen to see what it is!! But the second time around looked perfect! Welcome to TWD!

vibi said...

Woahhh... it looks absolutely moist and tender!
Great Job! BRAVO!

Unknown said...

Nice job on your first assignment! Children don't always have great senses of timing, do they?

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

What a fabulous cake!

Anonymous said...

Yum! Your caramel looks perfect. Welcome to TWD!

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

Yum! You cake does look chocolaty and delicious!!

Tammy said...

I made my caramel twice too! your photos are great. thanks for making my pick!

Sherry Trifle - Lovely Cats said...

What a gorgeous gooey slice of cake. Great job!

Megan said...

Your pictures are sure tempting me to make this cake. Looks awesome!

Tiffany Winters said...

I think you pulled at all of my favorite foods... Peanuts, caramel, and chocolate. I opened up your blog and thought "Are those peanuts?" I would have been snitching and probably wouldn't have had any caramel and peanuts to put on top of the cake.

Leslie said...

Sucks about the caramel..but good that you dont have to tie shoes anymore!!!
BTW: Good call on my overly "pink" post..love the breast cancer tie in

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks great!

Jaime said...

great job w/the caramel - glad you persisted and made it w/the rest of us! :) now you have another skill under your belt!

Shari said...

Welcome to the group! Your cake looks great and the caramel looks perfect!

Unknown said...

That looks delicious! I just stumbled onto your blog and I love it. Thanks for the great recipe ideas.