Dessert First

*Note to self: Always photograph a cake before squishing it with the cake cover. Casey is tall. Even in a cake.

Salted Caramel Pecan Buttercream (from the Caseycake)

I created this for my friend's birthday. She wanted something nutty and I'm a little obsessed with salted caramel. I used it on a Burnt Sugar Cake (bad name, great cake) from Lorraine Bodger's Great American Cakes (lofty name, charming little book). I cannot bring myself to transcribe her entire cake recipe, but this buttercream would be good on pretty much any kind of cake. It is one of my favorite things I've ever made and worthy of the first post on my little blog. I am now actively seeking any excuse to make (and share) it.

Ingredients for the Swiss Meringue:

1 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar

5 room temp egg whites (let sit in a dish of hot water for a few minutes if they are cold)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

3 sticks of unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla

And for the Caramel:

1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup boiling/near boiling water

1/4 cup cream

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup pecans, chopped

Salt - between a pinch and 1/8 tsp

Roast the pecans. Add the pecans to a dry saute pan on low heat. I just eye-balled the quantity, knowing I wanted one even layer for the filling of an 8 inch cake. Add the salt and toast them until they are light brown and toasty. Remove and let cool.

Make the caramel. In a saucepan on med/low heat combine the sugar and salt. Heat on low, stirring occasionally with a long handled wooden spoon, until sugar melts and turns a rich amber color, which will happen right before it boils. The lumps and crystals should dissolve (stab them - gently - with the spoon).

Add the water, about 1 TBSP at a time. It will spatter at first. Stir until lumps are dissolved and remove from heat. Add the cream, stir, and set aside to cool.

Make the meringue by placing egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water or in a double boiler. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture reaches 160 degrees or is quite hot to the touch (if you don't have a thermometer). It will probably take 5-7 minutes. Your arm will hurt. It is a labor of love. Actually, I think I've used a handheld mixer before and it came out just fine.

Transfer the hot mixture to an electric mixer and whisk on high. Once it has cooled slightly, add cream of tartar. Keep whisking until it has cooled completely and holds stiff, glossy peaks. Patience is important here. It can take 15+ minutes to cool completely, and if you add the butter before the egg whites are cool then the butter will melt, the eggs will deflate, you will have unusable, gloppy, soup, and your husband will have to go to the store and get another dozen eggs and another pound of butter. Been there.

Once the egg whites are COOL, add the butter 1-2 pieces at a time until it's all incorporated. If it suddenly looks curdled, separated, and gross, don't worry (unless the egg whites were still warm). Just keep beating it. Seriously, there are times I've thought it was never going to come back together even though I did everything right. Just beat the crap out of it and eventually it will return to beautiful deliciousness. It doesn't do the curdle thing every time. I would love for someone to explain that to me. Add vanilla.

Switch to paddle attachment and stir on lowest speed for about 5 minutes to remove air pockets (that you may have added by whisking it to a frenzy). Add the cooled caramel. You could stir it just slightly for a marbled look, which would be great for cupcakes. I usually incorporated it completely for a cake. Taste it. Swoon. You made that!

This recipe makes about 5 cups. Scoop out about 1 cup and place into a bowl large enough to hold 1 cup of frosting and the roasted pecans and add the roasted pecans to the 1 cup of frosting.

If you hadn't figured it out yet, the part with the pecans goes between the layers of cake and the part without the pecans goes around the outside of the assembled cake.

I prefer to make buttercream within a few hours of icing my cake or cupcakes so that I do not need to refrigerate it. Refrigeration makes it solidify, which is great for maintaining the shape of lovely piped decorations, but creates the need for a whole other round beating it to get the right consistency.

One tip on frosting a cake. I'm not going into a whole explanation here (and I'm not an expert), but I have one tip for if you are going for a very smooth look. Once the cake is frosted, if you want to smooth out some of the "imperfections" run your spatula under hot water, quickly shake off the water, and glide it across the cake. Maybe everyone knows that, but I didn't and I tried it and it worked. Enjoy!