This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge is Shuna Fish Lydon's Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting (follow the link for the recipe). The challenge is being hosted by Deidre of Chronicles of Culinary Curiosity, with help from Alex of Blondie and Brownie, Jenny of Foray into Food, and Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go.

This cake felt a little bit like an afterthought, what with the extravaganza of Thanksgiving cooking (to be honest, I am still in a food coma), but it came together quite well, and then we had the advantage of a post-T-day crowd to help devour the result. This cake is really tender and moist, and rich but not overly so. I still haven't mastered the creation of a truly fluffy cake— you can see that it is pretty dense— but it was so smooth and almost creamy that it really didn't matter so much.

I was also pretty relaxed about adding the caramel syrup and cream to the frosting, and slopped in too much of both, so the frosting was not quite stiff enough. It also had a slightly gritty texture, although I am not sure why. I'm definitely making a note about this recipe though, because the flavor was extraordinary. Brown butter and caramel: a match made in heaven.