This week's choice, Caramel-Topped-Brownie Cake, comes to us from Tammy of Wee Treats. Thank you Tammy for such a great pick.
A nice easy cake to prepare, with rather an unusual method of melting the butter rather than creaming. It's odd how it suddenly does a crater cave-in just before being taken out of the oven - could it be something to do with the mixing method perhaps? I once made a Nigella Lawson chocolate cake with this method and it also caved in the middle.
However, with the caramel sauce and nuts on, it looked just fine as no-one could see the dip. I didn't do Dorie's TWD caramel sauce as it seemed too fussy - was feeling a bit tired and crochety, so I used a quick recipe from Diana's Desserts.I would recommend this recipe for any caramel sauce occasion; it was delicious and nice and thick after sitting on the sink top overnight.
My cake got two really polarized reviews at work:
The Boss - "Not my favorite."
The Shop Manager - a special phone call thanking me and saying, "It's the best of the lot so far!" Well, what can I say! Personally, I think it was just okay. If I make it again I would not use hazelnuts as they are hard on the teeth and give a slightly bitter aftertaste. I would also bake it for less than 40 mins. - It was a little bit tough around the edges.
So onward to Biscotti next week.
17 comments:
Oh, you can't go wrong with hazelnuts. Looks delicious!
Mixed reviews, huh? ;) I'll have to try out the caramel recipe you recommended.
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
Hazelnuts! YOu just convinced me to make this for my mother in law when I visit next month. She's cuckoo for hazelnuts.
Good idea with the hazelnuts! I am going to try the recommended caramel recipe too as I failed at Dorie's and wound up with burnt caramel.
Hazelnuts sound quite tasty though - maybe chopping them up would make them easier to eat with the cake? It looks wonderful.
I am so pleased you enjoyed my pick
Yours is the first I've seen with nuts other than peanuts. It looks great. Maybe the hazelnuts wouldn't have been quite so hard if they were chopped a bit. Did you toast them? I think the possibilities with this cake using other nuts would be amazing--pecans and caramel (turtle candy!), walnuts, almonds, I gotta quit here or I'll want to make it again! :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I think this sounds terrific with hazelnuts! I agree with katrina, above, that chopping/toasting might make them a bit easier on the teeth. An perhaps a layer of Nutella silk under that caramel . . . oh, see? Hazelnuts, yum!! Nice job on this!
Hazelnuts were a great idea! Sounds yummy!
I'm in the "no hazelnuts" camp. Looks yummy!
I like the suggestions about chopped hazelnuts. Pecans will work well -- that's what I used.
I love hazelnuts and chocolate!
Your caramel looks great with the hazelnuts. I'll have to try that sometime soon.
Hazelnuts, chocolate, caramel what a yummy combo
Love the idea of chopped nuts.
AmyRuth
I used macadamias and chopped them just a bit because they were so large. They were great. I thought about hazelnuts - I knew I didn't want to use peanuts.
Nancy
Hi Heather,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Pulled the book and scrutinized the recipe: where Dorie says" still working with a whisk to stir in dry ingredients" is where after a few strokes I switched to a rubber spatula still stirring gently. You're right...no need for a mixer here. Looking forward to reading about biscotti. I've never made crunchy stuff. I'm a oohey gooey chewy girl, myself. Should be fun.
AmyRuth
It's always hard to get mixed reviews! Thanks for the tip about the caramel- I'll try that next time.
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