Monday, October 6, 2008

TWD: Caramel Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake

Caramel, peanuts, cakes that are brownie-like: heaven!! My experience with it all: not heaven :( I had such high hopes for this cake. The picture in the book was gorgeous, and I couldn't wait for that first piece.

It was all so promising in the beginning what with the buttered and floured pan...

And the sugar and eggs...

And look how creamy and luscious it is with all those dry bits mixed in. Wait...crap! I mixed it out of order!! Forgot to mix in the chocolate first! This means that the dry ingredients will be mixed too much! Shoot!!!


It sure is pretty though. Ah, well we'll hope for the best.


In the meantime let's tackle this caramel business. 5 minutes came and went...10 minutes came and went...15 minutes came and went...and then 15 minutes 30 seconds came, and I happened to sit down for approximately 10 seconds to eat a sandwich for goodness sakes and suddenly the caramel was all, "Oh, well you've missed your chance my friend. I am now officially much too amber".
I was worried...but I decided to go ahead with it just in case the combo of the pretty but mixed out of order cake and the possibly burnt caramel would turn into magic.


Ooo-whee! That's a pretty cake! My cake did sink in the middle as it cooled, but Dorie warned us of that, so I was not alarmed.
Upon tasting I was a tad disappointed. The cake was a bit dry which I was sure was due to my mixing error, but I did read that some of you other TWD-ers also ended up with dry cake. And to me that caramel does taste a bit on the toasty side, though it's not a hardship to eat it with the cake. I really want to take another crack at this cake and do everything just right because I believe this could be one of the most delicious cakes I've ever had.
Meanwhile, Abby did her glamour thing in the sunshine...tell me turtles don't smile.


What a ham...

15 comments:

Jules Someone said...

Nice looking cake. I'm sure it will be even better next time.

Anonymous said...

Caramel is a jealous mistress.

Look at that sweet turtle! The cuteness.

Cathy said...

Abbie is quite the diva, sunning herself and all!

The dry cake was NOT YOU -- it had to have been the recipe! I've read about too many dry cakes already, and mine was dry as well. As for the caramel, well, next time I'll be melting some Krafts. I just don't have it in me to brave Dorie's version again!

Peggy said...

It will be better next time. I'm right there with you - mine was a train wreck. Cute turtle!

Andrea at Nummy Kitchen said...

This cake was kind of disappointing for us too. It was overly dry and the caramel was just a bit off tasting. I think a caramel peanut topped brownie cake is a lot of a title to live up to, people were probably expecting the best tasting brownie, topped with the best tasting caramel, and this one just wasn't it. Yours does look beautiful though :) And your turtle is so adorable, I just love turtles!

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

I think I gained weight just looking at this cake! Yum! It looks so good.

What a cute turtle! My daughter would love it. -Julia

Prudy said...

It sure is a pretty cake, even it wasn't your favorite. It definitely has wow appeal.

Pamela said...

What a great pic of your turtle!! Making caramel sure is a PITA, isn't it? I've yet to conquer that one, but I refuse to give up.

Tammy said...

try making it again - i had to give ot two goes!

hoagiefest 2020 said...

If you weren't impressed with the first go, I'd recommend giving it a second! This is one of my favorite TWDs yet!

CAC said...

love love love your twilight countdown!! i can't wait!!

Bungalow Barbara said...

Too bad -- I also had dry cake, but the caramel was delicious. You do have to watch it like a hawk, especially towards the end!

Shari said...

Looks delicious though!

Jacque said...

lol, the same thing happened to me with the caramel. I think this was a recipe that was easy to mess up.

Yours sure looks pretty though.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know you had turtles!!
She's adorable, and I've always wanted to make that cake. The picture in the cookbook, looks so tempting, as does your photo.