Movie Night Salted Caramel & Popcorn Bundt Recipe by Melanie Johnson
This mouth-watering recipe is from Melanie Johnson's new cookbook called Bundt. Filled with 120 delicious bundt cake recipes for you to choose from, signed copies of her book are available for pre-order now! You can also include a personal message - simply write yours in the notes section of your order - making it perfect for a gift! Pre-order yours here.
Apart from the sculptural quality, another joy of a Bundt® pan is that hole of nothingness in the centre. It provides an opportunity to add something fun and quirky to delight and amuse. As well as being a deliciously tender caramel cake, the popcorn adds the ‘salted’ to the title and turns this into a Bundt to bring you back for more. Put it on the coffee table while you watch a movie and everyone can help themselves.
SERVES 8
For the 10-cup Brilliance
Bundt® pan:
15g (1 tbsp/½oz) butter
15g (1 tbsp/½oz) plain flour
For the caramel:
250g (2 cups/9oz) caster sugar
350ml (2 cups/12fl oz) water
For the cake:
250g (2 sticks + 2 tbsp/9oz)
unsalted butter, softened
250g (1¼ cups/9oz) caster
sugar
150g (2/3 cup/5½oz) caramel
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
250g (2 cups/9oz) self-raising
flour
250ml (1¼ cups/9floz)
whole milk
For the frosting:
25g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
150g (½ cup/5½oz) caramel
50ml milk, to loosen
300g (10½oz) icing sugar, sifted
To decorate:
70g (11 cups/2¾oz) salted
popcorn
1. Preheat your oven to 160°C fan/180°C/350°F/gas 4.
2. Melt the butter, then use a pastry brush to brush it evenly over the inside of a 10-cup Brilliance Bundt® pan, being careful to get into every nook and cranny. I find it easier to brush from the base up to prevent any butter pooling. Sift over the flour, moving the pan from side to side to coat it evenly. Turn it upside down and give it a final tap to remove any excess, then set aside.
3. To make the caramel, place the sugar and half the water in a saucepan over a low heat. When the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and, without stirring, watch the colour change to a light amber. Swirl it gently so it doesn’t get too dark. Once the whole surface has turned amber, add the remaining water. (Be careful as the caramel may spit.) Whisk the caramel until smooth and calm. Pour into a clean bowl and set aside until ready to use.
4. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until pale, fluffy and starting to look like a mousse. Add the caramel and mix again. Whisk the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl and then add gradually to the batter, still mixing. When the batter is homogenous, add one-third of the flour. Mix until just
combined. Add half the milk and mix until combined. Repeat with the next third of flour and the remaining milk. End with the final third of flour. Once combined, pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45–50 minutes or until the top is golden, the cake is starting to pull away from the sides and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes so the air can circulate all around the Bundt before inverting onto the wire rack to cool completely.
5. To make the frosting, whisk together the butter, vanilla, caramel and milk and then sift in the icing sugar. Once the consistency is thick but still soft, pour it over the top of the Bundt, or apply it with a piping bag. Decorate by filling the centre with an overflowing mound of salted popcorn. This Bundt will keep for several days in an airtight container without the popcorn.