Got milk?

Got condensed milk?

I pride myself on having a stocked pantry, that I can go to at a minute's notice and bake up some dessert.  It makes me feel like a good mom when I can just walk in the kitchen and whip something up after our son or daughter suddenly remembers they're supposed to bring a treat (to church, school, practice, etc).  I know in my brain that this is not what makes or breaks me as a mom, but sometimes after a long day filled with battles with the teenagers living in my home, it's all I got.

So, yesterday when my daughter came home from winter weekend church camp with a cold, I decided I would bake up a sweet dessert for us to have in the morning.   (We are celebrating Lincoln's birthday on Monday.)  I can't even begin to describe how wonderful a Sunday evening, before a Monday holiday is for a teacher...I stayed up late, baking that cake, drinking coffee, not worrying about the mess I was making in the kitchen, knowing I would have all day to clean up that mess.  (After drinking coffee and watching the Today Show of course.)

I found a recipe called, brown sugar caramel pound cake, on Pinterest, which I thought would be amazing with a strong cup of coffee.  So, I started mixing up the ingredients, got the quite full bundt pan into the oven and turned my attention back to school work while it baked.  It has to bake 85 minutes, so I knew I had a while before I needed to mix up the caramel sauce for the top of the cake.  After taking the cake out of the oven, I looked at that caramel sauce recipe again - looked easy enough - 1 can of condensed milk, 1 cup of brown sugar and some butter and vanilla.  Heat and stir it up and then pour it over.

Opening the cupboard to get the condensed milk, I was surprised to see I didn't have any.  I'm pretty organized, so I knew to look to the second shelf on the right, and saw only evaporated milk, and pumpkin puree, along with the other cans of fruit.  I opened up both doors and looked around, knowing it wouldn't be anywhere else, but hoping it would because it was well past 9 o'clock, I was in my jammies, and did not plan on running to the store!  No sweetened condensed milk to be found in my house!  Seriously humbling moment for this mom who thinks she can solve most problems (or at least colds) with food.

I did not go to the store, I offered it up this morning as a coffee cake (without topping) and acted like this is how it's supposed to look.  And, it is delicious and perfect with a cup of coffee, but I gotta be honest, I might be buying some sweetened condensed milk later today to stir up some caramel sauce for this cake, and then offering it as a dessert tonight;)

Brown Sugar Caramel Pound Cake

3 sticks of softened butter
2 C light brown sugar
1 C sugar
5 large eggs (room temperature works best for baking)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C whole milk
1 (8 oz) bag of toffee chips
1 C chopped pecans

1.  Preheat oven to 325.
2.  Prepare a bundt pan with butter and sugar.  (I always use sugar instead of flour.  It doesn't stick and it tastes better, and looks better.)
3.  Beat the butter until creamy, and then add the brown and white sugars, and mix until fluffy.
4.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each.
5.  Add the flour, baking powder and salt a little at a time to the mix, alternating with the milk, mixing after each addition.
6.  Sit in the toffee bits and pecans by hand.
7.  Pour the mixture into the prepared bundt pan.  It will fill it up almost to the rim.  You can leave it open and it will rise slightly over the edge, and may get too brown, or you can put a piece a tin foil on the top (just sitting, not crimped over the edges) to keep it from browning.  The cake will stick to the tin foil, however, so it's up to you.
8.  Bake for 85 minutes, and then let cool 10 minutes in the pan, before you invert and remove it.  You can let it cool longer, and avoid the chance of sticking to the sides.

Caramel Topping

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 C brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

1.  In a medium saucepan, combine condensed milk and brown sugar; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking frequently. Reduce heat, and simmer for 8 minutes, whisking frequently.
2.  Remove from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla. Let cool for 5 minutes before using.