Salted Caramel Popcorn Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

75g butter
170g sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
190mL milk

Caramel:

225g sugar
125mL cream
115g butter
1/2-1 tsp sea salt

To assemble:
1L vanilla ice cream
2 cups popped popcorn

Method

Cake:

Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease and line a 20cm springform cake tin.

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.

Stir together the flour and baking powder, then mixing slowly, add the flour and milk alternately in two or three additions. Mix until everything is just incorporated, and then scrape into your cake tin and smooth the top.

Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes or until the top springs back when touched lightly, and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool completely, and then chill it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight - the cake is easier to assemble if everything is cold.

Caramel:

Place the sugar into a medium saucepan with a splash of water and place over a medium heat.

Do not stir the mixture at all, just tilt the pan if it is melting unevenly.

Cook until the sugar is melted, and then let it boil until the mixture turns a dark amber colour, about 5-7 minutes.

Remove the caramel from the heat, and very carefully add the cream and butter.

The mixture will bubble up furiously, but just leave it to calm down and once it's calm, place it back on the heat and stir until everything is melted and amalgamated.

Add the salt, to taste, and then leave the sauce to cool completely, then chill in the fridge.

Assembly:

Leave the ice cream in the fridge for about 15 minutes to soften.

While it's softening carefully slice the cake into two even layers, and line a springform cake tin with plenty of plastic wrap.

Place the bottom layer of the cake into the tin, and then scoop in the ice cream, adding dollops of the chilled caramel as you go, to create a ripple effect. You should use about half the caramel.

Once all the ice cream is in, quickly add the top layer of cake, very lightly press down and then cover it with plastic and place in the freezer for at least four hours to set.

When you're ready to serve the cake, heat the remaining caramel, and place the popcorn into a mixing bowl. Pour over about half the caramel, and toss with the popcorn.

Unwrap the frozen cake and place it on a serving dish. Carefully pile on the popcorn, drizzle with the remaining caramel and serve!

Credits: Sarah Coates

Photo Credits: Sarah Coates