Spiced Brown Sugar Sponge with Salted Caramel and Maple Buttercream - Gluten Free

It has been a while since I have had time to get in the kitchen and create more sweet goodness. After exams I was really hoping to be able to add a lot on here but sadly with work and other commitments I really haven't had any time at all. Now being my last day on holiday, I am making sure it is a baking day so this was the first creation!

This is a cake I have been meaning to make for a while. It starts with a brown sugar sponge, spiced with cinnamon, allspice and ginger. These spices help cut through the super sweetness of the cake. It is filled with a home made salted caramel sauce and maple butter cream. The maple oil in the buttercream adds to the complexity of the caramel and smokey flavour. I also toasted a little coconut and sprinkled this though out the layer however this is optional or could also be done with candied apple or poached pear, yum! This was also my first attempt at dribbling white chocolate ganache down the side of the cake and although this needs work, hopeI'm off to a good start.

Enjoy the recipe xx

Ingredients:

2 cups Gluten free baking flour (I use Healtheries Baking mix)*

2/3 cup of corn flour **

1 tsp baking powder**

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp allspice 

1/2 tsp ground ginger 

½ tsp baking soda (dissolve in the milk)

1 teaspoon salt 

4 large eggs 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1 cup milk (room temperature or microwave for 20secs)

* Can also use regular flour if not needing to be GF

** Doubled check to make sure these products do not contain Gluten

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray / line two 7inch cake pans. 

Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth and light in colour. Add brown & caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy, add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and mix well

Add the flour, milk, corn flour, baking powder and ground spices be careful not to over mix, beat till just combined. Be careful not to over-mix as this will toughen the mixture and result in a heavy cake.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 25-30min or till golden. Insert a tooth pick towards the centre of the cake, if this come out clean, the cake is done. Leave to cook for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan and cooling on a rack.

Once the cakes are cool, use a wire cuter (if you have one) or a sharp knife to cut each of the cakes in half - this will create the layer of the cake.

Caramel sauce:

Ingredients 

1 cup (200 grams) dark brown sugar 

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 56 grams) butter 

salt (a pinch for classic caramel sauce or ½ teaspoon for salted caramel) 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Instructions 

In a medium saucepan, mix together the sugar, heavy whipping cream, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the mixture simmer for about 4 minutes, whisking occasionally. 

Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the vanilla extract (be careful, the mixture is hot) and stir. Let mixture cool in the pan for 2 minutes, then pour into a jar. 

Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 5 days). Warm it up in the microwave before using.

See more here: http://prettysimplesweet.com/quick-easy-caramel-sauce/ 

Vanilla buttercream frosting: 

Ingredients: 

125g softened unsalted butter 

1/4 cup milk 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

4 cups icing sugar 

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

A few drops of maple oil, to taste 

MAKES 4 cups of frosting - KEEPS 1 week 

Cream the butter for 1–2 minutes. Add the milk, vanilla extract and half of the sifted icing sugar, and beat for at least 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy and of a spreadable consistency. Add extra milk if the mixture is too dry or extra icing sugar if the mixture is too wet. If you wish to colour and/or flavour the buttercream then this is the time to do it. Add a drop at a time and beat in until you reach the required colour and/or flavour. Pipe or use a round edge kitchen knife to apply the buttercream to the cupcake.

Assembly:

You will need the: 1. Salted Caramel Sauce - recipe as above, 2. The ready cut equal layers of the brown sponge cake and 3. The Maple Buttercream all ready to go (4. option white chocolate ganache which can be seen as i dribbled over the top of the cake).

Place one layer of the cake on your chosen board, cake plate or turn table. Add the layer of the Caramel sauce and spread around the middle of the cake, leave the edged clean. Pipe or carefully spread the maple buttercream around the edges and continue to fill the rest of the layer with icing. (Optional: Sprinkle with toasted coconut or fruit even throughout the layer of the cake). Add the next layer of cake and continue these steps. If you are using ganache, pour over the top of the cake and slowly and carefully pour over the edges to create the dribbles. Wait for this to set and continue to ice over the top of the cake. Now is the time to add any sprinkles or flowers if you are wanting to use any <3 ENJOY