A random cake recipe search brought me to Blogger Lindsay's "Pinch of Yum" Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cake and ever since that day I have had this cake on my mind. Trust me - it looked absolutely yummy!
I wanted to try it out for a very long time but was missing certain ingredients - Butter Flavored Shortening and Light Corn Syrup.
Light Corn Syrup ... never seen or heard of it before! So I looked for it and found it in Lulu Shopping Market. Corn Syrup is a thick sweet syrup which comes in both light and dark varieties, made from processed cornstarch. Light corn syrup has been clarified, while dark corn syrup has coloring and caramel flavoring added. I didn't manage to find light corn syrup, so I used dark corn syrup instead.
Hmm...Butter Flavored Shortening?! No idea what it even was... So I turned to my trusted friend Google!
What is Shortening? - Shortening is any fat that is solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry. Shortening has come almost exclusively to mean hydrogenated vegetable oil. Its a semi-solid fat with higher smoke than butter and margarine. It also contains less water and are thus less prone to splattering. Shortening has a higher fat content compared to about 80% for butter and margarine. It also requires no refrigeration.
Butter Flavored Shortening - Well, shortening with butter flavor! Simple!
So I sent my dad out on the task to locate Crisco's Butter Flavored Shortening, since my research said Crisco was the most famous company for Shortening. After looking high & low (in shopping aisles), he found it at Al Fair! Yay!
I just needed an opportunity to try the recipe and found one last Saturday. My baby brother, Gerald was down from College and had been complaining to Relissa that I never bake when hes around. Also, my cousin Ivon, his wife Jacqueline and my baby niece, Isabella stayed over. So it was the perfect time to bake!
(Source: http://pinchofyum.com/gooey-chocolate-caramel-cake )
CAKE
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter, very soft or melted
1/2 cup milk
Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir until well combined. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture (use fingers) until very fine crumbs form. Add the unsalted butter and milk, mix until a thick dough forms.
CARAMEL
1/2 cup salted butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Melt the salted butter over medium low heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt, bring to a very low boil, stirring constantly. Let it cook over very low, gentle heat, so that the mixture is just barely bubbling if at all. After about 10 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the baking powder. The caramel will foam and bubble - stir or whisk until its thick and creamy and mostly smooth.
ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread half of the batter on the bottom of your baking dish. Cover with chocolate chips and a layer of caramel. Spoon the rest of the dough over the caramel layer and spread until the pan is evenly covered.
Bake for 25-30 mins, depending on your pan size. Remove from the oven and let it stand for a few minutes before serving.
I wanted to try it out for a very long time but was missing certain ingredients - Butter Flavored Shortening and Light Corn Syrup.
Light Corn Syrup ... never seen or heard of it before! So I looked for it and found it in Lulu Shopping Market. Corn Syrup is a thick sweet syrup which comes in both light and dark varieties, made from processed cornstarch. Light corn syrup has been clarified, while dark corn syrup has coloring and caramel flavoring added. I didn't manage to find light corn syrup, so I used dark corn syrup instead.Hmm...Butter Flavored Shortening?! No idea what it even was... So I turned to my trusted friend Google!
What is Shortening? - Shortening is any fat that is solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry. Shortening has come almost exclusively to mean hydrogenated vegetable oil. Its a semi-solid fat with higher smoke than butter and margarine. It also contains less water and are thus less prone to splattering. Shortening has a higher fat content compared to about 80% for butter and margarine. It also requires no refrigeration.
So I sent my dad out on the task to locate Crisco's Butter Flavored Shortening, since my research said Crisco was the most famous company for Shortening. After looking high & low (in shopping aisles), he found it at Al Fair! Yay!
I just needed an opportunity to try the recipe and found one last Saturday. My baby brother, Gerald was down from College and had been complaining to Relissa that I never bake when hes around. Also, my cousin Ivon, his wife Jacqueline and my baby niece, Isabella stayed over. So it was the perfect time to bake!
Mix all the dry ingredients together...
Then cut the shortening into the dry ingredients and mix with your fingers until it forms fine crumbs...
To finish it off, add the butter and milk to this mixture...and keep aside.
Moving on to the Caramel: Follow the instructions as below...and Voila! Just look at that...(*sigh*)!!
Finally, its time to assemble the cake: First a layer of the cake mix, then cover it with chocolate chips!
Time for our yummy caramel...
Finally, cover it with the rest of the batter and its ready to be baked!
Approximately 30 minuted later.... the gooey indulgence is ready!
Look at that beautiful caramel...bubbling to the surface!
This is definitely not your traditional cake! Its fudgy and incredibly gooey!
I know it looks like a mess...but trust me its a delicious mess!
Top some of the warm cake with cold vanilla ice-cream! Perfecto!
My first Victim: Ivon! (*evil laugh*)
My baby girl Isabella wanted some too!
Goofing around! :)
There you have it folks - Gooey Chocolate Cake with Caramel! Absolutely sinful!
Gooey Chocolate Cake with Caramel
CAKE
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter, very soft or melted
1/2 cup milk
Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir until well combined. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture (use fingers) until very fine crumbs form. Add the unsalted butter and milk, mix until a thick dough forms.
CARAMEL
1/2 cup salted butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Melt the salted butter over medium low heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt, bring to a very low boil, stirring constantly. Let it cook over very low, gentle heat, so that the mixture is just barely bubbling if at all. After about 10 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the baking powder. The caramel will foam and bubble - stir or whisk until its thick and creamy and mostly smooth.
ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread half of the batter on the bottom of your baking dish. Cover with chocolate chips and a layer of caramel. Spoon the rest of the dough over the caramel layer and spread until the pan is evenly covered.
Bake for 25-30 mins, depending on your pan size. Remove from the oven and let it stand for a few minutes before serving.
Notes:
- Heat the caramel just enough so that it thickens slightly.
- I used a big oval tray so the cake layers were too thin. I would recommend using a smaller tray (~ 9-inch).
- The recipe says bake 350F for 20 minutes but this depends from oven to oven. So you would need to set the temperature as per your oven.
- Store at room temperature. It will firm up a bit as it rests.
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