Sweet and Salty Cake
Matt Lewis, co-owner of Baked, joins Martha to make a Sweet and Salty Cake. Part 1.
Sweet and Salty Cake
Watch the Video
Sweet and Salty Cake
Matt Lewis, co-owner of Baked, joins Martha to make a Sweet and Salty Cake. Part...
Watch the Video
Sweet and Salty Cake
Kristine Moberg, baker and finisher at Baked, joins Martha to decorate a Sweet...
Watch the Video
Sweet and Salty Cake
Martha, Matt Lewis, and Kristine Moberg finish decorating the Sweet and Salty...
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The Martha Stewart Show, December Winter 2006
- Yield Makes one 8-inch 3-layer cake
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Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 2 2/3 cups cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
- 1/2 cup Caramel with Salt
- Whipped Caramel Ganache Icing
- Fleur de sel, for garnish
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Line each pan with a parchment paper round, butter parchment paper and flour; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa, 1 1/4 cups hot water, and sour cream; set aside to cool, about 10 minutes.
- In another large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening together until smooth and it appears to create strings inside the bowl, about 7 minutes. Add both sugars and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated. Add vanilla, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and mix again for 30 seconds. Add flour mixture alternating with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
- Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake until cake is just firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 18 to 24 minutes. Let cool completely.
- Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the first layer on the cake plate. Using about 1/4 cup of the caramel, spread a thin layer on the cake, allowing some of the caramel to soak into the cake. Follow the caramel layer with a layer of about 1 cup of the ganache icing. Place the second layer on top and repeat process with another layer of caramel followed by a layer of ganache icing. Place the remaining layer on top of the second layer bottom side up. Spread entire cake with remaining ganache icing. Sprinkle with fleur de sel.
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i made this cake several times before and it was fantastic. i don't know if they have changed the recipe, but it was an epic fail this time. same comments as previously posted. took forever to bake and the consistency was sooo bad that it fell apart when i iced it. tasted good but was a mess!!
I TOTALLY concur with JDN. I made this cake EXACTLY, and I mean EXXXXXACTLY to the letter with high quality chocolate (valhrona), Plugra butter, etal and the baking times listed are SO FAR OFF it's ridiculous. The MUSH in the middle I was left with tasted good, but it was like pudding. I left them in as long as I could but the edges were burning and the center was MUSH. Taste was great, but could not assemble and present to a level I would have been proud of. :(((((
I live in France and can't get vegetable shortening. May I just use all butter for the cake batter?
I love this cake, and everything else in the fabulous "Baked" cook book. However, the recipe here differs from the recipe in the book, and I think the differences are important to point out. The first time I made this cake (following the recipe from online), it was severely undercooked and, therefore, unstable. The cooking time in the book for the cake layers is 35 to 40 minutes, rotating half way through (for even heating).