| This week we made really good chocolate cakes with whipped cream frosting. The cake above was the starting point. It's made in a 9x13-inch pan lined with parchment paper so that we could lift it out of the pan. We then cut the cake in half and stacked it to make a two layer cake. The frosting was piped on the top of the cake with a pastry bag and a round tip. This week we made coconut, chocolate, and cherry versions--all good. But on Thursday we hit a "game changer." People were telling us that it was the best cake they had ever had or more often, the best frosting they had ever had.
We served it all day Friday and we're serving it again today. It was a fun day. We had a handout but people were cornering me every time I went to the store; they wanted to talk about the frosting, wanted to make sure they knew how to make it.
So here's the recipe. It will make you a hero.
Caramel Nut Whipped Cream Frosting 2 cups best whipping cream 1/3 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup salted snacking nuts, coarsely chopped
Place everything but the nuts in the bowl of your stand-type mixer. With the whip attachment, beat the cream mixture until firm peaks form, scraping the bowl twice. Fold in the nuts.
This makes more than enough frosting for a 9x13-inch cake so pile it on high. It's much lighter than a buttercream so you can use more.
What makes this so good? Caramel frosting is always good but the salted snack nuts are key. The contrasts of the smooth and the crunchy and the salty and the sweet are just magic. But I don't think it would be the same in a buttercream frosting.
One final note: Use the best heavy whipping cream you can find. We used Marigold 40% Heavy Whipping Cream that we bought from Sam's Club. It whips faster and is more stable than lighter creams.
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