Recipe: Brown Sugar Toffee Cake (Bundt cake)

BROWN SUGAR TOFFEE CAKE



TOFFEE BUTTER BATTER:
3 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped toffee (such as Heath bars)*
1/2 pound (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
Confectioners' sugar, for sifting over the baked cake (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Film the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan (4 1/2-inches deep, with a capacity of 15 cups) with nonstick flour-and-oil spray. The preparation of the pan must be thorough or the pieces of chopped toffee that land against the sides and central rise of the pan will stick, making unmolding tricky.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.

Toss the toffee with 2 tablespoons of the sifted mixture in a medium-size mixing bowl.

Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 4 minutes. Add the granulated sugar in 2 additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added. Add the dark brown sugar and beat for 1 minute longer. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for about 20 seconds after each addition to combine. Blend in the vanilla extract.

On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl thoroughly with a rubber spatula after each addition. Stir in the toffee, making sure to fully incorporate the candy. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes to 1 hour, or until risen, set, and a wooden pick inserted into the cake withdraws clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. The baked cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the baking pan. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.

Invert the cake onto another cooling rack. Lift off the pan. Cool completely.

Store in an airtight cake keeper. Just before slicing and serving, sift confectioners' sugar over the top of the cake, if you wish. Use a finely serrated knife to cut the cake, doing so in a slightly exaggerated sawing motion

Ahead: 2 days

*Heath bars (Heath Milk Chocolate English Toffee Bar) make the best-tasting candy addition to the cake batter; hand-chop the bars into rough-cut 1/4-inch pieces

Makes one 10-inch cake, creating about 16 slices
Source: Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes by Lisa Yockelson