Now, who do you know that doesn’t like caramel? Personally I don’t know anyone who doesn’t go all gaga at the mere mention of the word. So when I recently combined my homemade bourbon caramel sauce with rich cream cheese frosting, and slathered said combination all over my new recipe for brown sugar Bundt cake; with just one bite I knew my quest for a really good caramel cake was over.

A little history: For years I had been trying to perfect a caramel flavored cake, but had never been able to achieve the flavor I desired. So recently I decided, what the heck, let’s give it one more try.

So while in the planning stages for this recipe I remembered that brown sugar was the base for my favorite caramel sauce. (It was a true “light bulb” moment!) So I went on line and looked for Bundt cake recipes that contained brown sugar. I found several that looked wonderful. So I took a bit from “this” recipe and a bit from “that” recipe”, and came up with “the other” recipe – mine.

So then I decided to serve this cake at a recent JazzVox concert. It was a smashing success. And I’m telling you true, the wonderful people who attend these concerts are a tough audience. They not only expect to hear amazing vocal jazz artists; they want their jazz served up with darn good food. (Our guests are true connoisseurs of the arts; both the art of jazz music and the culinary arts. And believe me, Mr. JazzVox himself (Nich) and my husband, the resident sommelier, and I could not agree more about striving to bring our guests the best possible jazz artists with a side of really great mashed potatoes!)

So if you too love to provide your family and friends with great food, bake them this cake in the near future. They are not only going to love you all the more, they might even start singing your praises. And if they happen to sound like Ella, all the better. Cheers!

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 (3.4 oz.) box instant vanilla pudding and pie filling
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• ¾ c. water
• 1½ c. brown sugar, divided
• ½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• ¼ c. whipping cream
• 2 T. good bourbon
• 3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch kosher salt
• 2½ – 3 c. powdered sugar
• 1 T. milk

Butter and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. Set aside. Mix the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, water, and 1 cup of the brown sugar in mixer; beat on medium speed for about 4 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean.

Meanwhile whisk ¼ cup of the butter and the remaining ½ cup brown sugar together over medium heat in a small heavy saucepan until brown sugar has dissolved completely. (This happens after the mixture comes to a boil and is allowed to burble for a couple of minutes or until it turns kind of shiny. Continue whisking the entire time the mixture is on the heat.) Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the whipping cream and bourbon. Allow caramel to cool completely before adding to the other frosting ingredients. (You won’t need all the caramel sauce for the frosting, but never fear; it makes a wonderful ice cream sauce or a delicious additive for your morning coffee!)

While the cake is baking and the caramel is cooling, whip the remaining ¼ cup butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and salt together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar alternately with milk, beating at low speed until smooth. (You want a fairly stiff mixture at this point.) Next, stir about a quarter cup of the cooled caramel sauce into the mixture.

When the cake comes out of the oven, place the hot pan on a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Carefully loosen the edges of the cake from the pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate; let cool completely before frosting all sides with the icing. After the icing has set for about 30 minutes, drizzle the top and sides of the cake with some of the remaining caramel sauce. Store the cake covered and at room temperature. Can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.

As some of you know, I have a special place in my heart for a truly good cake. Done right, a beautifully frosted cake can be one of the tastiest treats on earth. And in my humble opinion, if you are looking for that one perfect cake recipe that sets the standard for all others, it is this amazing recipe I found in Bon Appétit magazine about 20 years ago. Again in my humble opinion, if the creator of this amazing cake, Selma Brown Morrow has not been given sainthood status by now, someone should be answering to St. Peter for this glaring omission. (All sacrilege aside, if ever there was a cake that should be categorized as heavenly, this is it!)

The cake part is deliciously moist, with just the right amount of orange flavor and subtle crunch from the miniature chocolate chips. Then top if off with the absolute best frosting you could ever wish to lick off a plate, and you have a dessert experience you will not soon forget.

Like I said, I have been making this cake for special occasions for a very long time. The first time I made it was for the 40^th anniversary of our dear friends Dick and Eloise. I had asked them ahead of time if they would like me to build a cake for the celebration. And wonder of wonders – they said yes! So the evening of the get-together, we met at Dick and Eloise’s favorite Chinese restaurant. All of the extended family was present. Well, bottom line, I actually received a standing ovation from the assembly. That’s how fabulous this cake actually is!

The next time I made this cake for a special event, it required a bit of travel. Again dear friends were celebrating their anniversary, but this time, instead of taking the cake to Kirkland, I was serving it in Hood River, Oregon. Also to complicate the whole experience, I was staying in a hotel. So of course, being the gutsy female that I am, I asked the chef at the hotel dining room if I could store the cake in their refrigerator overnight. And because I asked so nicely, he said yes with one condition. His condition was that he got to have a piece of the cake as his reward. He liked it so much he asked if he could have a bit more to share with his staff. I made some new friends that day!

The last time I made this cake was for our friend Peggy’s 60^th birthday party last evening. Again the cake was given rave reviews.

So if you too want to celebrate a special occasion with a homemade cake, give this recipe a try. I can’t think of a better way to show someone how much you care, then by baking them this amazing creation.

Cake:

• 1 c. orange juice
• 1 oz. unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate
• ½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1½ c. sugar
• 2 lg. eggs, room temperature
• 1½ tsp. finely grated orange peel
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1½ c. cake flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ c. miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine 2 tablespoons of the orange juice with the unsweetened chocolate in a small saucepan. Stir mixture over medium heat just until chocolate melts. Remove from heat and gradually add the remaining orange juice. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs, orange peel, and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Add dry ingredients alternately with the orange juice mixture to the butter and sugar in three additions. Beat well after each addition. The batter will be quite thin. Mix in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into 1 greased, floured and parchment paper lined 9×13-inch pan or 2-8×8-inch greased, floured and parchment paper lined pans. (Trust me, the cake will not come out of the pan(s) unless you line them with parchment paper. The orange juice, peel, and chocolate chips are sticky, and even peeling away the parchment paper can be tricky! So go slowly.) Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until pick inserted into middle of cake comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack and cool completely. Do not remove the cake(s) from pan(s) until completely cool. In fact, if you want to bake the cake one day and frost it the next, just leave the cake in the pan(s) overnight.

When ready to frost a single layer cake, carefully remove the cake from the pan. Place top side down on a paper cake board or platter (if you have one the right size). Carefully peel the parchment paper off the cake. Frost the top and sides.

When ready to frost a two layer cake, carefully remove one of the layers from its pan and place top side down on cake plate or platter. Slowly peel the parchment off the cake. Frost the top side only*. Carefully remove the second layer from the pan, peel off the parchment paper and place top side up on the frosted bottom layer. Frost the entire cake with remaining frosting.

To decorate, I like to use ivy strands, curled orange peel rind and fresh strawberry fans (when in season). (Directions for how to curl orange peel and make strawberry fans provided below.)

Frosting:

• 10 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• ¾ c. (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 9 oz. good quality bulk white chocolate, like Ghirardelli (Winco carries bulk chocolate BTW)
• ¼ c. Cointreau (orange flavored liqueur)

Using an electric mixer, whip the cream cheese and butter together. Cut the chocolate into small pieces using a heavy butcher knife. Melt in the microwave and allow to cool to barely lukewarm. Gradually add the white chocolate to the butter and cream cheese mixture. Beat until smooth. Add the liqueur. Beat again. Use immediately.

Hint: Try using a setting of 275-300 degrees for melting chocolate in your microwave. Check and stir every 20 seconds or so until most of the chocolate has melted. Remove from microwave and continue stirring until no chunks of chocolate remain.

Curled Orange Peel Rind:

Using a channel knife, a kitchen tool with a flat piece of stainless steel punctured with a sharp hole through which you can cut a small groove in the skin of the fruit (see picture below), cut a long spiral length of orange peel. Then carefully wind the peel around one of your round handled cooking utensils (I use one of my wooden spoons), wrap with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to form. Gently remove the rind from the spoon handle and cut into desired lengths.

Strawberry Fans:

Slit strawberries with a sharp knife lengthwise about 3-4 times just to the top. Fan out as you place the strawberries on top of the cake.

*The original recipe calls for a ganache filling between the layers.

Ganache Filling:

• ½ c. heavy cream
• 2 T. + ½ c. strawberry jam
• 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Combine heavy cream and 2 tablespoons jam in heavy saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until jam melts and mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Refrigerate until thick enough to spread, about 30 minutes.

In my humble opinion, there is nothing finer than a good piece of cake. Now don’t go all sanctimonious on me and tell yourself that Patti must be some kind of a nitwit if she really means what she is saying. After all, isn’t it well known by anyone who is anyone (and that includes Patti), that cake is simply an inferior substitute for a real dessert? How could this self declared foodie really mean it when she says she loves cake?

Well to this I say – “pfui” (to quote my favorite detective Nero Wolfe). But please let me explain. I, along with everyone else who has ever been to a birthday party or an office celebration where your average grocery store bakery sheet cake has been served, unfortunately know that not all cakes are delicious. In fact, I will go so far as to say that a majority of these cakes are not worth the flour used in the batter or the shortening used in the frosting. But, give me a cake baked at home by a skilled baker or prepared in a wonderful bakery, and there isn’t a slice I would turn down. (That is, if I were still eating refined sugar, which I seriously try to avoid. But that’s another story…..)

Anyway, what I am trying to say in my overly verbose way is that this cake is really, really delightful. The flavor is amazing and it could not be moister unless it was a liquid. And simple to prepare? Well I think you can figure that out for yourself; just a few simple ingredients thrown together in a mixer, beaten for a few minutes and then baked in a Bundt pan.

So next time you want a lovely simple dessert that everyone will love, give this recipe a go. And while you’re at it, those of you who harbor a prejudice against cake, don’t be afraid to let cake back into your life. (Not necessarily the stuff that comes in sheet form from your neighborhood grocery store, but the real thing that comes from a reliable source, like your mother or your favorite bakery.) You may actually discover that a delicious piece of cake and a good cup of coffee are a pleasure that has been missing from your life. Enjoy

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp. ground cloves
• 1 small (4 serving) instant vanilla pudding and pie filling mix
• 1 c. sour cream
• 3 T. canola oil
• 1 T. spiced rum
• 1 c. eggnog
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• powdered sugar, opt.

Combine the cake mix and spices in the bowl of your electric mixer. Add the pudding mix, sour cream, canola oil, rum, eggnog, and eggs; beat for about 5 minutes. Pour the batter into a Bundt pan that has been buttered and floured. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn it out onto a cake plate. Cool completely before lightly sprinkling with powdered sugar, if desired.