After the success of being featured in the wonderful Great British Cookbook, the Cake Duchess has literally been swept off her feet with orders for her wonderfully decadent and stunningly decorated cakes – which seem perfect for any occasion.
One look at her Instagram account and you will be drooling; instantly craving one of her sweet little treats, so lovingly hand-crafted, decorated to absolute perfection and using the finest of ingredients. There was one little beauty, however, which caught my eye more than any of the others – and that was her mighty Salted Caramel and Popcorn Cake. It, looks, to, DIE, FOR! Wouldn’t you agree?!
Well, the lady herself, (also know as Amy Vyse, from Nottingham) was good enough to share her secret recipe, and here’s what she had to say about it:
“This recipe is for my famous, best-selling cake ‘Salted Caramel & Popcorn Cake.’ The cake consists of layers of caramel sponge, filled and coated with a salted caramel buttercream, then topped with a caramel drizzle and of course, popcorn! What more could you want from a cake!!”
I am really happy to share this wonderful recipes and exclusive photos with you on my blog. If you try this cake – please make sure to tag @TheCakeDuchess and @SophiesScran on twitter – and use the comments at the bottom of the page to let us know what you think! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
For the Cake
- Butter for greasing
- 7 medium free range eggs
- 430g caster sugar
- 400g butter
- 430g self raising flour
- 1 x 395g tin sweetened condensed milk
- 100g sweet popcorn
- Edible Glitter (optional)
For the Buttercream
- 240g butter softened
- 300g icing sugar
- 100g caramel (see recipe below)
- Pinch of salt
As this is a long and complex recipe, we have split it into chronological sections to make it simple to follow!
Method:
1. Making the Caramel
To begin you need to start by Making the Caramel. Now of course, there is quick and a long method to making caramel – either buy it premade from a shop or follow the recipe below. It is fine if you chose either, but below is the most satisfying by a long way!
- Remove the label from the unopened tin of condensed milk. Fill a deep pan with water and bring to boil. Carefully place the tin into the pan, making sure there is enough water to completely cover it at all times, keep topping up the water when necessary. Gently simmer for 3 hours.
- When the 3 hours is up, remove the tin from the water and allow to cool completely before opening. When you peel back the lid, there is nothing better than the sight you are greeted with – thick, gooey, indulgent caramel!
2. Now for the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 150* and grease 2 x 6” (15cm) round cake tins with butter. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.
- Place the butter and sugar in bowl and mix on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Break the eggs into a separate bowl, ensuring no egg shells spoil your batter, (we will add some texture later!)
- On a low speed, mix the eggs into the sugar and butter mixture and beat until all is combined. If your mixture looks like it has curdled add a small spoonful of flour. Once combined, sift flour into the mixture and beat until smooth.
- Now add 200g of the beautiful caramel, and gently fold into the mixture until you have a lovely evenly coloured batter.
- Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to stand for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
3. For the Buttercream
- Cream the butter until soft, and mix in the icing sugar – remember to turn the mixer down when adding icing sugar, or you will end up with a snowstorm effect in your kitchen 😉
- Once combined and stiff, add the caramel and pinch of salt and mix well.
4. Time to Ice
- When the cake has completely cooled you have two options, you can skim the tops off of your two sponges and leave them whole, or you can cut them again to give the cake 4 layers instead of 2.
- Once decided, place your cake on a cake board or plate and spread a spoonful of the buttercream on each layer. Add the next layer and repeat – until you reach your top layer.
- Next, we need to ‘crumb coat’ the cake. This is to seal in any stray crumbs, and create a smooth surface to the cake. A second layer will then be applied for a perfectly smooth finish.
- Spoon a large dollop of buttercream onto your cake, and smooth over the top of it with your palette knife or cake scraper. The Cake Duchess swears by her cake scraper, and says you can pick one up for about £4 at your local Hobbycraft or cake decorating shop.
- Slowly scrape the surface to make sure you have a perfectly smooth and flat top.
- Spread the icing around the sides of the cake and use your choice of utensil to make sure it’s smooth.
- Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, then repeat and leave for another 30 minutes.
- Once the cake is chilled, remove from fridge and place the remaining caramel into a piping bag (if you don’t have a piping bag you can use a sandwich/food bag by snipping off the corner).
- Slowly, around the top edge of your cake, pipe the caramel so it creates a lovely ‘dripped’ effect down the sides of the cake.
- To finish, top with popcorn pieces and sprinkle with a little edible glitter!
There you have it! The Cake Duchess’s famous Salted Caramel & Popcorn Cake. DIVINE!
Amy would love to see your finished cakes, so please make sure you tag @the_cakeduchess on Twitter, @thecakeduchessnotts on Instagram if you make this amazing celebration cake!!
With Love, Sophie & The Cake Duchess -x-
