Butterscotch cake with Caramel topping

Staying at the sister's I was asked to bake. Unfortunately, the large and varied group of people meant that my choices were restricted. So I thought about it and decided it was time to try a caramel cake. I know Deb has one, and Dragon makes it a lot. But somehow it's just not caramel enough for me. So I trawled my other two go to sites, and got the cake from Annie, and the topping from Joe. (Joe you're my hero.) (Annie, you're pretty awesome too.)

I scaled the cake down to 2 eggs, because I didn't want a giant cake, though maybe it would have kept for two days hee. I haven't had a cake inhaled at this speed since I had seven hungry boys demanding chocolate cake in my house. It really is delectable. Soft with chewy caramel, not too sweet with an undertaste of salt, and generally very much a winter comfort cake. (It's cold in northern California right now!)

The cake is a titch involved, with many steps and three kinds of fat (!), but you know me, I made my lazy substitutions. It only involved two bowls, and would have taken twenty minutes if I hadn't started without checking for eggs and then needed to head to the store.

For the cake:

• 10 T (1.25 C) butter, at room temperature
• 1.25 C brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 T canola oil (I used olive, and in India would have used sunflower)
• 2 large eggs
• 2.5 t vanilla extract
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 2/3 t salt (If using salted butter omit the salt.)
• 2/3 cup plus 1.5 T yoghurt

For the topping:

• 1 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• water to moisten the sugar

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 175C/350F.  Grease a pan.  Beat butter and sugar with electric beater till well mixed and hopefully fluffy. I have never managed that, or at least what I think counts as fluffy. Add the oil and blend. Add the eggs one by one until well mixed. By this time it was really fluffy. Scrape down the bowl if you need to. Add vanilla and mix. Can add dark rum at this stage about 2T.

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt up. Mix half into the wet mixture till just incorporated. Add the yoghurt (I should admit I put the yoghurt in first...but hey this is what the original calls for.)  Add the remaining dry ingredients, mixing until incorporated.

Pour into greased pan and bake at 175C/350F for about 40 min. Turn the heat up to 200C/400F and bake for 10 more min, or till a knife/toothpick comes out clean. Watch this bit, it's important to crisp the crust but it can burn. And then you need to level it and the sauce sinks in etc. Yummy but not pretty. Let the cake cool.

In a heavy saucepan, deep if possible, mis the sugar and water. Cook on high heat, keeping the mixture moving around in the pan. Eventually it'll bubble, and then start to steam and then darken and darken and eventually smoke a bit. At this point, carefully add in the cream and stir. It might spatter or clump but keep stirring! Keep on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, depending on how dark you want it, and then take off the heat and stir till bubbles dissipate. Wait for it to thicken a bit and pour over cake. Ideally it shouldn't drip too far down the cake, because then you'll have to spoon it off the sides and pour it on the top again. Allow to cool.

You could serve with vanilla ice cream...or just eat it. It's ridiculously yummy.