Burnt sugar bundt cake

Ahh caramel - you're such a quintessentially autumn/winter food, and yet I love you all year round. I think many bakers share in my madness in heating up the oven and dragging out the cake tins on a 35 degree celsius + day - and for something this beautifully flavoured, being a hot, sweaty mess was completely worth it.

I've done loads of cooking with caramel and caramel flavours, and have developed a real taste for that slightly bitter, dark amber taste that comes with burnt sugar - an unfortunate misnomer for such a delicious taste.

While diluted significantly in this cake, it does really stand out in the frosting (should you choose to use it). You could also cook your caramel to a lighter shade - each to their own :)

Burnt sugar bundt cake

Makes 12 generous servings

Ingredients:
Amber caramel:

• 200g white sugar
• 1 cup thickened cream

Cake:

• 280g salted butter, at room temperature
• 220g white sugar
• 100g brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup amber caramel, as per above

Frosting:

• 200g butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
• Remaining amber caramel, chilled until thickened
• Toffee shards, to serve

Method:

Let's start with the amber caramel:

• Place your sugar in a medium saucepan and cook, without stirring (swirling the pan gently is fine) on a medium heat until sugar is dissolved and your caramel has turned amber. Slowly stream in cream, while whisking vigorously, to achieve a runny sauce. If the caramel clumps up, keep stirring it over a medium heat until it smoothes out. Place in fridge to cool.

The cake:

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.
• Sift in flour, baking powder and bicarb soda and stir until loosely combined. Pour in cooled amber caramel and fold gently until mixture is uniform.
• Grease a large (23cm) bundt tin, and pour in batter.
• Bake for approximately 55 minutes, or until skewer inserted into cake comes out clean.

The frosting:

• Beat together butter and icing sugar until very pale and thick. Slowly add in leftover amber caramel, and beat until combined. Cover cooled cake with frosting.

To make your own toffee shards, combine 1 cup castor sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan on medium heat. Cook, swirling not stirring, until sugar is dissolved and caramel (above 60 degrees C on your candy thermometer). Pour into a baking dish lined with non-stick paper and allow to set for 30 minutes. Smash into pieces and scatter over cake.