I was in the mood to bake a cake. It's literally been months since I've baked one and today's weather complied by taking a turn for the worse--it was cold and rainy after a week of beautiful warm weather. I've had this particular cake marked as one I wanted to try but the extra step of making burnt syrup had up until now dissuaded me. Making the burnt sugar isn't hard and neither is the cake once you've got it but if you're turned off by the extra work, I understand.

Burnt Sugar Syrup
From Company's Coming Cakes by Jean Paré

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water

Directions:

• Put sugar into a large, heavy, frying pan over medium-low heat.
• Stir often as it melts.
• When it becomes a dark butterscotch color remove from heat.
• Add about 1/4 cup of the water carefully. It will sputter furiously.
• Stir.
• Pour in the rest of the water.
• Return to medium heat.
• Sir until the water dissolves.
• Color will now be a very dark brown.
• Cool before pouring into a jar.

About this recipe: This was a first for me: melting dry granulated sugar in a hot pan. (In fact, I misread and had to dump out my first attempt since I added the water and sugar to the pan in one, incorrect step). I was worried the entire time that I would burn it to a crisp and ruin my nice pan in the process. Happily, neither of those things happened. Just put the sugar in the pan, turn the heat to medium and let it heat up till it begins to melt. Stir gently as it melts. It took a total of maybe 5 - 7 minutes for the sugar to melt completely, starting from a cold pan.

The instructions are spot on concerning the sputtering addition of water to hot melted sugar. Wear an apron. Fortunately, it's only the water that sputters and it's not hot. The only thing that wasn't clear was how long to cook it after adding the water. I may have gone a bit far, ending up with a pretty thick syrup. I suggest just cooking the water off for 2 to 3 minutes.

Burnt Sugar Cake
From Company's Coming Cakes by Jean Paré

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup burnt sugar syrup
• 1 cup water

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  
• Cream butter and sugar.
• Beat in eggs one at a time.
• Add vanilla. Stir.
• Mix burnt sugar syrup with water.
• Add to butter mixture in 2 parts alternately with flour mixture in 3 parts, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• Divide batter between 2 greased 8-inch round layer pans.
• Bake in oven for 30 - 35 minutes until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean.

About this recipe: A very basic recipe that was easy to follow. There seemed to be a lot of water/syrup mixture to add in to this batter but in the end it wasn't too soupy. I did my additions in more than just 2 liquid and 3 flour, as usual, and don't be afraid to break it up into as many parts are you are comfortable with, as long as you begin and end with the dry ingredients. The resulting batter was mighty tasty. Maybe it's the long absence from the taste of cake batter but this one was great.

I went for mini loaf cakes instead of two 8-inch rounds. They still had to bake for about 25 minutes before they were cooked to the center. Like the batter, the cooked cakes have a pleasing caramel color that makes it stand out from the every day cake.

The result: a moist, tender cake that is buttery with a flavor that is midway between a cake flavored with vanilla and one with cream, though there is neither one in the recipe. The flavor reminds me of a pound cake. It's sweet and rich. I cut only a little of the sugar but I would cut out a tiny bit more next time to perhaps 3/4 cup. Overall I think the flavor is very nice. If you want to try something a little more unique in terms of preparation and flavor, then give this cake a try.