This Cinnamon Caramel Cake was inspired entirely by the discovery of a spread on a supermarket shelf. It was sat there surrounded by peanut butters and jams, and I almost didn't see it at all.
Do you ever go to a coffee shop where you get an individually wrapped Lotus caramelised biscuit? Well this is a spread that tastes exactly like those biscuits. Don't believe me? Here they are, and yes you can get then in smooth and crunchy!
Marvellous!
With my tastebuds well and truly loving me, and my little brain cells working overtime I tried to come up with something special, but also something simple that would let the Lotus spread shine perhaps without people even knowing what the secret ingredient was!
I used my sister and sisters in law as guinea pigs a few weeks ago on a lovely spa weekend just for us girls, and they went down a treat!
I don't often make the first of a new idea and decide not to change anything, but this was it. It's incredibly simple, no fuss, no fancy decoration, just fabulous flavour.
My sponge recipe was only to add 1.5 tsp of cinnamon to a standard recipe, but I'll give you it here anyway (is this the first time I've given the actual recipe???).
200g self raising flour
200g caster sugar
200g unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
2 level tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
I just blended it all together in the mixer until it was smooth and glossy (don't over mix it though or it won't rise as well as it should), then I put it in a greased and lined tin and baked it at 180 (160 fan) for about 40 minutes. I think the tin I used was 7".
For the filling of the large cake I used some of the crunchy spread to add a little texture plus a little of the topping. The topping was:
1 x 250g tub mascarpone
Smooth Lotus spread to taste
I used about 2 tbsp of Lotus spread, but half the fun with experimental baking is tasting as you go along, so have a play with it!
This is the cake I've finished off tonight, ready to give to a colleague who's leaving tomorrow. After coating the cake I textured the top a little (though you can't really see it here) and sprinkled it with some ground cinnamon. Decorating large cakes isn't exactly my forte, so I tend to keep it simple! Anyway, without doubling up on the topping there wasn't enough to start doing any fancy piping.
When I made the cupcakes the only difference was making a small well in the middle and filling with the crunchy spread before piping on the topping.
I know I said I wouldn't change this recipe, but while I was typing I did consider that next time I might try using a soft brown sugar instead of caster sugar for a bit more depth of flavour. Not yet though. Ginger Cream Cake is next for dad's birthday party!
It turns out that there won't be many people at work tomorrow. Shame. Well, not for me and my colleague. No, I won't tell you where I work.
Do make it. It's rather lovely!
