Spice Cake With Caramelized Pears And Maple Buttercream Recipes

NEW DUCHESS SPICE CAKE WITH MAPLE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans or one oblong pan.
• Sift flour, white sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt together. Add brown sugar, 2/3 cup shortening, and buttermilk. Beat 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes or oblong pan for 45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool. Frost.
• To make frosting: cream butter and 1/2 cup shortening together. Add maple flavoring. Gradually add confectioners' sugar. Gradually add milk and continue beating until light and airy. Add more milk if necessary. Color with maple coloring, if desired.

CARAMELIZED APPLE SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a medium sauce pan. Once melted, add cubed apples and cook 5 minutes over medium heat. Apple will brown slightly. Add maple syrup and ground cinnamon. MIx well to combine. Continue to cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. The syrup will thicken and the apples will soften. Remove from heat, straight into a food processor or blender. Cool apples for 10 minutes or to almost room temperature before pureeing. Measure out 1 c. Enjoy any leftovers as is or with yogurt, granola, on toast, etc. This step is optional, but gives the cake a wonderful texture while bringing lots of flavor. If you prefer to skip the puree step, make sure to smaash the apples really well, like you would making banana bread.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two 9" cake pans with parchment paper along the bottom. If needed, lightly grease the pans. Use non stick if possible. Set aside.If making homemade buttermilk: combine the milk and lemon juice, stir and allow the milk about 10 minutes to curdle.
• Whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, chai (or pumpkin) spice and salt. Set aside.
• In stand mixer with whisk attachment or hand held with beaters, beat oil and room temperature butter on medium speed until smooth and well combined, about 3 minutes. On medium speed, beat in a slow stream of sugar. Beat until light, fluffy and well combined.This should take about 2-3 minutes in total.
• Add eggs one at a time. Beat each egg for about 20 seconds before adding another egg. Add vanilla extract. Beat until well combined. Add caramelized apple puree a few tablespoons at a time. Beat until fully combined.
• Using a large spatuala, mix the dry ingredients and buttermilk into the wet, in this order: dry, milk, dry, milk, dry. Make sure not to overmix.Wet cake strips if using and fit around the prepared cake pans.
• Evenly pour cake batter into each of the prepared cake pans. If using a food scale, make sure to take the weight of each cake pan prior to filling. Make sure the an even weight of batter is added to each pan. If you don't have a good scale, add 1 c to each pan until all the batter is added.
• Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes. Cakes will be golden brown, with edges pulled slighly from the sides of the pan. The middle of the cake should quickly spring back when a finger is pressed gently onto the top, when the cake is baked through. If the indent slowly springs back, bake an addtional 2-3 minutes. Start checking for doneness around 28 minutes.
• Once baked, rest cakes in the pan for 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack. Carefully invert the cake onto the cooling rack ( or plate placed on top.) Tap the pan a few times to encourage the cake to release. Lift the cake pan off the cake (which should be face down on the second cooling rack). Place the original cooling rack on the lined bottom of the cake. Gently flip right side up. Cool the cake on the cooling rack for about 1 hour.Wrap each of the cakes in plastic cling. Chill the room temperature cakes for 2-3 hours or overnight to make frosting easier. When ready to frost, pull the cakes from the freezer.
• Once the cake is baking, make the brown butter. To make brown butter, melt butter in a clear heavy bottom pot or sauce pan. You can use the same one from caramelizing the apples. Once the butter starts to foam, whisk continuously until brown bits start to form. Remove from heat, pour into clean bowl, skim the foam from the top and cool to room temperature (25-30 minutes).Chill the butter in the fridge an addtional 30-40 minutes. You can the butter to be softened like room temperature butter. While chilling the butter in the fridge, pull out the cream cheese to come to room temperature.
• In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or with electric mixer and beaters, cream together the brown butter and cream cheese until smooth and well combined, about 4-5 minutes. Add sifted powdered sugar 1/2 c at a time. Add vanilla extract and salt. Beat on high until desired consistency is reached. Add milk as needed to thin out the frosting. If the frosting becomes too soft, place the mixing bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
• Pour maple syrup into a small or medium sauce pan. Place candy thermometer into the pot. Bring the maple syrup to a boil over medium heat. Allow maple syrup to boil without stirring until it reaches 230F on the thermometer. This is right before soft boil. Once it reaches this temperature, remove from heat and whisk in butter until fully combined.Pour in heavy cream, stir until fully combined. Add salt and stir until fully combined. Pour salted maple caramel sauce into a heat proof airtight container to bring to room temperature. Caramel can be kept at room temperature for a day. Store in the fridge for longer storage, up to 1-2 weeks. Gently reheat in the microwave. You will have caramel sauce leftover from this recipe. To top the cake you will need about 1/4 c of caramel sauce.
• Spread about 1 tsp frosting on the cake stand or serving plate. Place bottom cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread 3/4 c frosting on the top of the bottom cake layer. Add the next cake on top of the frosting. Spread 3/4 c on top of the top cake layer. Spread the frosting to the edges, leaving the excess frosting hanging off the edges. Spread the remaining frosting along the sides. Dirzzle the caramel over the edges of the cake. Using a spatula, frosting knife or back of a spoon, smear the caramel into the frosting. This caramel is thinner than tradtional caramel, so expect the caramel to run a bit. Add caramel to the top.Once assembled with frosting and caramel sauce, the cake can be placed in the fridge until ready to serve (the same day). If serving the cake more than a few hours after preparing it, all components can be prepared in advance. Assemble the same day you plan to serve the cake.

SPICE CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED PEARS AND MAPLE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Make spice cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour cake pans.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Stir together milk and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk mixture (begin and end with flour mixture) and mixing until just combined.
• Divide batter among pans, smoothing tops, then rap pans once or twice on counter to eliminate any air bubbles. Bake until pale golden and a wooden pick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge of pans, then invert cakes onto racks. Reinvert and cool completely.
• Caramelize pears:
• Peel and core pears, then coarsely chop.
• Heat butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then sauté pears, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in sugar, lemon juice, and brandy and cook over high heat, stirring, until juices are deep golden and pears are tender, about 5 minutes.
• Make buttercream:
• Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt using cleaned beaters at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add maple sugar a little at a time, beating, then continue to beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.
• Boil maple syrup in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, undisturbed, until it reaches soft-ball stage (238 to 242°F on candy thermometer), 3 to 7 minutes.
• With mixer at low speed, immediately pour hot syrup in a slow stream down side of bowl into egg whites, then beat at high speed, scraping down side of bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 6 minutes. (It's important that meringue be fully cooled before proceeding.)
• At medium speed, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. (If buttercream looks soupy after some butter is added, meringue is too warm: Chill bottom of bowl in an ice bath for a few seconds before continuing to beat in remaining butter.) Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all butter is added but will come together before beating is finished.)
• Assemble cake:
• Put 1 cake layer on a serving plate, then spread with 3/4 cup buttercream and top with half of pear filling. Top with second cake layer, 3/4 cup buttercream, and remaining pear filling. Top with remaining cake layer, then frost top and sides of cake with remaining buttercream.