Don’t let the ‘burnt’ in burnt sugar cake scare you away

by Kathy Hamman Miller

This recipe came from my 91-year-old mother’s grandmother. We all remember it from family reunions, but had never made it because her daughter had carried on with the tradition of bringing it.

A cousin recently found the ingredients that were used to make this and I would like to share our try with you. Don’t let the “Burnt” scare you off. I really is a great cake!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

To make the burnt sugar syrup:

Have 1/2 cup of hot water ready.
Place 1 cup of sugar in a skillet, turning burner on medium to melt and darken. This does turn to liquid so stir occasionally with a wooden spoon until it starts to bubble. Turn burner down to low until it darkens to an amber, burnt color. Add the hot water and cook down until you get a 1/2 cup plus a couple of tablespoons of the thickened syrup.

We liked it darker, more like the burnt color. Would love to hear what your favorite way of making it is!

For the cake: 

Dry ingredients 
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
pinch of salt
Place in bowl and set aside 

In another bowl mash with a fork 2 tablespoons butter softened into
1 1/2 cups sugar.

When the burnt sugar syrup has cooled to a cool but is still runny, stir in the 3 eggs to the sugar mixture, fold in the 1/2 cup of burnt sugar syrup, followed by the dry ingredients. Place in a greased 9×13 cake pan and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The batter is thicker than what we are used to, which made for a nice dense cake. The darker version has a molasses flavor.

For frosting when cake has cooled:

4 tablespoons of butter just melted with the
2 tablespoons of Burnt Sugar Syrup
Add
1 lb. box of confectioners sugar, around 3 1/2 cups. 

Frost and enjoy!