It is never easy for me to get back to the blogging once I stay away for long. I slip into the procrastination mode and then I really have to push myself hard to begin shooting and uploading a post again, to set the ball rolling. Beginning the year 2021 with a prayer on my lips and gratitude in my heart. I am hoping the year 2020 treated you all fairly. As for me, I spent a considerable amount of time away from my home (stuck in the lockdown at Delhi) and once back, I got busy with household chores. It was mighty tough managing without my domestic help especially since she does most of the jobs around in the house. I would spend more than half the day mopping, cleaning, dusting and washing. And spent rest of it cooking and baking. With no helping hand (and considering my health issues)
I spent virtually all my energy on these chores and I was left with no intention or time to even consider blogging or giving any attention to my Insta account. All my energy was getting exhausted in household chores and it was only once I got a domestic help, that I began contemplating and planning for posts to share on the blog. I wanted to return here in October so as to share something for Diwali since it is a major Hindu festival but I also wanted to take a much needed break from everything and rejuvenate myself. So I eventually decided to begin spinning the wheels of the blog from 2021.
And, I am continuing with the ritual of posting a cake (and sometimes cookies) recipe when I return to the blog after long. Moreover, I realised that apart from this delicious and healthy pumpkin sheet cake, I had not share any cake recipe in 2019 or 2020!
So, last year, I baked this cake after a very long…probably two decades. When this cake was first baked in my mother’s kitchen, ages ago, it just started as an experiment. We had basic vanilla cake batter to which we decided to add freshly made hot caramel and watch what it would lead to. And the result was nothing short of deliciousness. I especially love those caramel streaks left by the shards of caramel that do not blend in with the batter. Utterly beautiful and delicious 🙂 Feel free to drizzle the cake with dulce de leche or with some salted caramel for that extra oomph and enjoy it with your favourite cuppa or a glass of milk.
1 C Flour (maida)
½ C plus 3 tbsp Wholemeal (Atta)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 C Caster Sugar
2 tbsp Buttermilk (I used home made)
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
4 large Eggs (60 gm each)
1 C Oil (use any neutral oil)
½ C roughly chopped Walnuts (reserve a few tablespoon to scatter on top of the batter)
FOR CARAMEL
½ C Caster Sugar
Turn on the oven and set the temperature at 180 degrees C.
Line a 10′ X 5′ loaf tin (or a 9 inch round pan) with parchment paper or grease it with some butter or oil and dust it with all purpose flour (maida). Dust off excess flour. Set aside.
In a bowl, sift together both flours and baking powder. Add walnuts to the flour. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk sugar and buttermilk for half a minute. Add vanilla essence and then add and gently whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
Add oil and whisk till it just gets incorporated. Set aside.
In a saucepan, start to caramelise sugar on low heat. Once it is done, set it aside.
While the caramel is just about done, add and mix in the flour to the sugar and egg batter.
Now very carefully add and whisk the caramelised sugar to the batter. Whisk it till it breaks down into the batter. (There will be random shards of caramelised sugar that will not melt into the batter but that is okay) Try to achieve a smooth consistency but also ensure you don’t over mix the batter. (It should take no more than a few seconds to whisk in the caramelised sugar to the batter)
Immediately transfer the batter into the prepared tin and bake till a skewer inserted comes out clean. (It took approximately 40 – 45 minutes for the cake to bake but the time will depend on the thermostat of your oven)
(check notes below)
Note – Take the caramel to a deeper colour (ensuring not to burn either) for a richer tasting cake.
Notes – Feel free to add additives of your choice such as walnuts or pecans, chopped apple, caramel chips etc to the batter.
Note – I highly recommend scattering some chopped walnuts on top of batter, before keeping it for baking. The walnuts get nicely toasted and add a lot of flavour to the cake.
Thank you so much for your visit and see you soon again with another exciting recipe!
Creativity at its best!!
Cake looks so yummy n the recipe is so inviting!! Would give it a try!!
Thanks Dear
Wishing you a Happy n Healthy New Year
Thank you so much dear and a very happy and blessed year to you too 🙂
Glad to see you back with such a yummy treat! Happy New Year!
Thank you dear Angie. A very happy and healthy year to you as well 🙂
Welcome back! Glad to see 2020 go — it’s been a hard year in a lot of ways. Certainly one of the least fun ones, ever. Anyway, this cake is pure fun! And looks SO tasty. Thanks. And Happy New Year!
Thank you John. It is certainly good to be back. Wishing you a great year ahead 🙂
Happy New Year! What a great cake with which to start the new year. I just can’t resist anything with caramel and this looks delicious!
Thank you so much MJ 🙂
This looks really delicious, Taruna! Glad you are well and back.
Thank you so much <3
Glad to see you back!!! This caramel cake is the perfect recipe for a New Year 🙂
Happy to see you back blogging! I’d been checking your utterly beautiful page regularly. But I get the procrastination factor. Welcome back, glad you are well! This cake looks gorgeous! And it sounds so tasty. I love anything with caramel!