WHEN THE CAKE IS BESIDE THE POINT

In Saving Southern Recipes, Southern Kitchen’s Kate Williams explores the deep heritage of Southern cooking through the lens of passeddown, old family recipes.

Unless you grew up with it, you may be surprised the first time you eat a slice of caramel cake. Per its name, I expected a cake filled with surprise pockets of caramel inside the cake crumb, like a rainbow sprinkle birthday cake, but better. But like any true Southern caramel cake, the cake itself isn’t really the point.

The point is, of course, the caramel frosting, which can be either chewy or toffeelike. These days, the cake is often made from yellow cake mix, a shortcut in a recipe that allows for no other shortcuts.

The reason caramel frosting is so difficult is that it is, essentially, candy, which, when made properly, will set and harden at room temperature. To use it as a cake frosting, bakers must move almost unreasonably quickly to get it on the cake and looking pretty before it sets.

According to Southern Living, the most traditional caramel cakes are made with a “hot milk sponge cake” (Find the cake recipe on Southernkitchen.com). After failing at a toffee-like version for the frosting, I looked toward the more fudgy variety, where I found my winner. I had to work quickly, but it was worth the effort.

Do you have a beloved family recipe to share? Send a picture of the recipe card or a typed-out version of the recipe to kate@ southernkitchen.com.