Caramel Popcorn Cake
Want to make your next movie night one to remember? Take your snacks to the next level with a slice (or three) of my delicious Caramel Popcorn Cake!
Two layers of soft caramel sponge with insanely delicious caramel buttercream frosting and wonderfully crunchy caramel popcorn to top it all off. Sounds pretty perfect, right?
One of the reasons I really love this recipe is it’s simplicity. I’ve used my victoria sponge as a base, and adapted it to create the perfect popcorn cake.
It’s also a pretty quick cake to put together. I’m not saying it’ll take you five minutes (unless you’re just that quick, in which case congratulations) but there’s no waiting around for crumb coats or chilling with this cake. You can decorate it using different piping nozzles or a palette knife like me, and as for the popcorn? Well, you can go nuts. My recipe says 50g but if you want to add a real mountain of popcorn then why not?
So, what are you waiting for? Pick out your favourite film and treat yourself to a little indulgence…
INGREDIENTS
Cake:
225g self-raising flour
225g softened butter
115g caster sugar
115g brown sugar
3tbsp Dulce de leche
4 eggs
1 1/2tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp milk
Buttercream:
150g unsalted butter
300g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp Dulce de leche
To decorate:
50g caramel popcorn
2tbsp Dulce de leche
METHOD
1. Pre-heat your oven to 160°C (320°F, gas mark 4). Grease two 8 inch cake tins with butter and line with baking parchment (aka greaseproof paper).
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition, followed by the vanilla and Dulce de leche. Mix thoroughly. Sift in the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt, and fold gently until just mixed.
3. Divide the batter between the cake tins and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in their tins before transferring to a wire rack.
4. While the sponges cool, make the buttercream. Using a hand-held or stand mixer, beat the softened butter on a medium speed for a few minutes until it goes pale and gains some volume. Sift in your icing sugar, one or two tablespoons at a time, mixing thoroughly with each addition. Add the vanilla and Dulce de leche. If you’re buttercream is a little thick, add a couple of tablespoons of milk.
5. Once your sponges have cooled completely, select the bottom layer and level with a bread knife or cake wire if needed. Spread the buttercream evenly over the first layer and sprinkle with a few small popcorn pieces. Add the second layer of sponge and again top with your caramel buttercream.
6. To decorate, place the popcorn pieces around the top of the cake – you can use a bit of spare buttercream to start piling and sticking your popcorn in place if you need to. Put the final two tablespoons of Dulce de leche in a piping bag, snip of a little bit of the end and drizzle over the top of the popcorn. Now all that’s left to do is eat and eat and eat…
What do you think of my latest recipe? Don’t forget to leave me a comment below!
