Caramel Week: Caramel Cake

The word caramel has been associated with a sweet family memory for many years. I vividly remember sitting at a high-top table with my mom and three of my sisters while our other sister was serving us at a local restaurant. It came time to order dessert and my youngest sister who wasn't more than eight years old at the time said, with complete seriousness, something along the lines of "I'll have the Caramel Sundae, you know, I think I'm a caramel-alcoholic." What followed was both laughter and embarrassment, while most of us thought it was cute and endearing that this little person was claiming such a deep love of caramel, my little sister was dead serious.

As it turns out Molly was ahead of her time. It took me a few more years to warm up to caramel. For too long I thought you had to choose between Team Chocolate and Team Caramel (and there was little chance of me giving chocolate a cold shoulder). The good news is you don't have to choose, numerous recent studies (see Caramel Week, the latest Theme Weaver production, more information below) have shown the ease, versatility, and compatability of carmelized sugar. 

For my Caramel Week contribution, I made a classic southern caramel cake rescued from the pages of Gourmet magazine (via Smitten Kitchen). This cake combines homemade yellow cake and warm brown sugar caramel glaze. Best enjoyed with coffee and friends. Hop over to Smitten Kitchen for the recipe. Enjoy!

For more caramel week decadence visit some of the awesome blogs below. . .

• Monday–Comfortably Domestic-Crockpot Dulce de Leche / Kvetchin’ Kitchen-Caramel Apple Pie
• Tuesday–Decadent Philistines Save the World-Salted Caramel Pork Loin with Shaved Brussel Sprout and Apple Salad / Bakeaholic Mama-Chewy Milk Dud Brownies
• Wednesday–Inside NanaBread’s Head-Chocolate Alfajores with Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels / Comfortably Domestic-Alfajores Caramel Sandwich Cookies / The Girly Girl Cooks-Almost Famous Fairground Caramel Sauce / Climbing Grier Mountain-Dulce de Leche Milkshakes with Caramel Drizzle
• Thursday–Tenaciously Yours-Popcorn Crunch Sundae / Kvetchin’ Kitchen – Red Wine Caramel Sauce 
• Friday–Country Cleaver-Pear Caramel Mini Cheesecakes / Munching in the Mitten-Caramel Cake
• Saturday–Comfortably Domestic-DIY Dulce de Leche Coffee Creamer / The Hill Country Cook-Salted Caramel Pie