So what’s my birthday cake of choice? Chocolate cake with caramel icing. Yum! Most people have tried white cake with caramel icing, but my grandma Elizabeth Yearwood spread that amazing Caramel Icing on chocolate layers, and it was even more delicious. The cake recipe came from my grandma Paulk. I guess I could call this Two-Grandma Cake! Now my mom makes this cake for me every year. The Caramel Icing has a mind of its own, so you never really know what it’s going to look like, but it doesn’t matter to me. It always tastes amazing!

　　

Ingredients

serves 12

　　2 cups all-purpose flour

　　2/3 cup cocoa

　　1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

　　1/4 teaspoon baking powder

　　1 teaspoon salt

　　2/3 cup (1 1/3 sticks) butter

　　1 2/3 cups sugar

　　3 large eggs

　　1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　1 1/3 cups water

　　

Caramel Icing

4 cups sugar

　　1 cup milk

　　1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

　　1/8 teaspoon baking soda

　　1 teaspoon vanilla

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour 2 9-inch cake pans.

　　

Step 2

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt, and set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Add the flour mixture alternately with 1 1/3 cups water, beginning and ending with flour.

　　

Step 3

Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Turn the layers out onto racks that have been sprayed with cooking spray.

　　

Step 4

Mix 3 cups of the sugar and the milk in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Bring slowly to a boil and keep it hot. Caramelize remaining cup of sugar in an iron skillet. Do this by cooking over medium-high heat and stirring and scraping the pan with a flat-edged spatula as the sugar melts. Continue to cook until the syrup turns to medium or dark brown in color. This occurs at about 320°F to 350°F on a candy thermometer. Do not scorch the syrup. Stream the syrup into the boiling sugar and milk mixture and cook to the soft ball stage, about 238°F. Add the butter, soda, and vanilla.

　　

Step 5

Pour the hot mixture into the metal bowl of an electric mixer and beat as it cools until the icing is creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Spread on the cake layers while the icing is still warm. If it becomes too stiff, add a few drops of hot water.

　　

From Gwen

Step 6

I have had more deliciously edible failures with this icing than with any other. I never make it the same way twice! As a young teacher in Dawson, Georgia, I boarded with Mrs. Mary Lou Alexander, who made a fabulous Caramel Icing. Her daughter, Kathy, has graciously shared the recipe.

　　

Note

Step 7

Makes more than enough to frost 2 9-inch cake layers. Leftover frosting can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, rewarmed, and used to frost brownies or cupcakes.

　　Reprinted with permission from Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen: Recipes from My Family to Yours by Trisha Yearwood with Gwen Yearwood and Beth Yearwood Bernard. Copyright © 2008 by Trisha Yearwood. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Trisha Yearwood is a three-time Grammy-award winning country music star and the author of the bestselling cookbook Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen. She is married to megastar Garth Brooks.