Caramel Cake

I'm on a cake roll tonight, but the only person to blame is myself. I've been neglecting a lot of my recipes for posting, and what better time to catch up than now! I have tons of recipes to post, so don't worry. You all won't be disappointed, I promise. On this same note, this second cake of the night comes from Southern Cakes and was really easy to make, both the actual cake part and the icing. I goofed a bit on the icing by cooking it for too long, but now I know how to make it even better for the next time I make this. According to Nancie McDermott, "this cake is the specialty of my stepmother, Virginia, and it tastes as wonderful as it looks. The icing is a scrumptious brown-sugar fudge, which needs to be spread onto the cooled cake quickly once it is ready. If it sets up too quickly while you are spreading it on the cake, return the pan to the stove and warm it gently over low heat, stirring in a spoonful or two of evaporated milk to make it creamy again. This will result in a harder icing, but it will still be delicious."

Gigi's Fabulous Caramel Cake
*serves 8 to 10*

Ingredients:
YELLOW CAKE
3/4 cup butter
1 cup whole milk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

GIGI'S CARAMEL ICING
1 lb light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
7 tbsp evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1) To make the cake, heat the oven to 325F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until the butter melts. Stir well and let cool to room temperature.
2) Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugar, and beat well at high speed, scraping down the bowl often, until light yellow, smooth, and thick.
3) Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture, mixing only until the flour disappears. Add the cooled milk mixture and the vanilla, stir well, and divide the batter between the prepared pans.
4) Bake at 325F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cakes are a pale golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the center, and begin to pull away from the sides of the pans.
5) Cool in the pans for 10 minutes on wire racks or folded kitchen towels. Then turn out the cakes onto wire racks or plates to cool completely, top side up.
6) To make the icing, have the cake layers handy and ready for frosting, so that you can spread the warm frosting quickly once it is ready. In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir well and then adjust the heat so that the frosting boils and bubbles gently. Cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
7) Beat the warm icing with a wooden spoon until it thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Place a cake layer, top side down, on a cake stand or serving platter. Quickly spread some icing over the top, and cover it with the second cake layer, top side up. Ice the top quickly and then spread the remaining icing over the sides.
8) If the icing becomes too hard to spread, warm gently over low heat, add a spoonful or two of evaporated milk, and then scrape and stir well until the icing softens enough to spread again. Dip a table knife in very hot water to help soften and smooth out the icing once it is spread.