Caramel Mud Cake with Salted Caramel Icing, Crumble and Vanilla Poached Pears

More celebratory cakes! A belated birthday cake. I was offered the challenge of making a cake that involved pear and salted caramel and I can rarely say no to a challenge. My friend is not a fan of sponge/cream cakes. He's a big fan of mud cakes, especially caramel ones. A couple of years ago I attempted to make him one and it was one of my first mud cake attempts. It wasn't the best, totally overbaked and brick-like. But this time I think I got it just right.

I haven't made a secret of the fact that I am not a mud cake person. I'm scarred from many years of crappy chain bakery and dodgy supermarket mud cakes that are super dense and/or dry and tasteless. I prefer my cakes light and airy. I prefer a vanilla cake over a chocolate cake. But I really enjoyed this cake. A two-layer caramel mud cake with salted caramel icing, poached vanilla bean pear, crumble and salted caramel sauce. It's INTENSE.

It was my first time poaching pears! They turned out beautifully tender and matched so well with the buttery crumble that I sprinkled on top. I poached them in a brown sugar, vanilla bean and star anise mixture. I know the cake is a little on the brown and messy side presentation-wise, but don't let its appearance fool you. All the elements combine to make a pretty spectacular cake. I'd recommend eating small slices served with extra crumble and salted caramel sauce and a really big cup of hot tea.

Caramel Mud Cake with Salted Caramel Icing, Crumble and Vanilla Poached Pears

(caramel mud cake adapted from this AWW recipe, salted caramel sauce adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)

For the caramel mud cake:

250g (2 sticks plus 2 tbsp) butter, chopped
200g (7oz) white chocolate, chopped
2¼ cups (about 450g) firmly packed brown sugar
1½ cups (375ml) water
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 eggs, beaten lightly
2 cups (about 280g) plain/all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (90g) self-raising flour

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Grease and line the base and side of a two 18cm (7 inch) round cake tins (warning: batter is quite runny so spring-form tins may leak out the bottom, it is better to use non-springform).
2. Sift the plain and self-raising flour into a bowl and set aside.
3. Combine the butter, white chocolate, sugar and water in a medium saucepan, whisk over low heat until the chocolate is melted and sugar is dissolved. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; cool for 15 minutes.
4. Whisk in vanilla and eggs, then add sifted flours. Pour equal amounts of mixture into prepared tins. Bake for about 60-75 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out just clean. Cover cake loosely with foil if it is over-browning.
5. Cool the cake in the pan covered with a clean tea towel. Cake can be made a day ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temp.

For the salted caramel sauce:

400g sugar (about 2 cups)

170g (12 tbsp) unsalted butter

2/3 cup thickened/heavy cream 

About 1 tbsp sea salt flakes, adjust to taste

1. Place sugar in a heavy-based medium to large saucepan on medium heat and whisk until it starts to melt (it may clump together but this is okay), continue whisking until all the sugar melts down.
2. Add a sugar thermometer to the pan and continue cooking without stirring, swirl the pan occasionally to stop the bottom from burning. 
3. Heat until mixture turns dark golden in colour and the sugar thermometer reaches 180°C (350°F), then add all the butter at once. Take care as mixture will bubble up.
4. Whisk until the butter is incorporated, then add cream (mixture will bubble up again) and whisk until smooth. Pour into a heatproof bowl. and allow to cool slightly. 
5. When cool enough to taste, add salt to taste. Cool to room temperature.

For the poached pears:

2-3 brown pears (I used 3)

6 cups water

1 1/2 cups (about 300g) firmly packed brown sugar

1 vanilla bean pod, split and seeds scraped

Optional: 1 star anise

1. Place water and sugar in a saucepan on medium high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to simmer.
2. Peel pears (keeping the stem) and place pears, vanilla pod an seeds (and star anise) in the saucepan.
3. Simmer, turning pears occasionally to ensure even poaching, for about 20 minutes or until pears are tender (check with a fork).
4. Carefully remove pears and set aside to cool completely, then pat very dry using paper towels. 
5. Slice pears in half and use a spoon to remove the core and seeds. Use a small sharp knife to thinly slice pears. You can keep it attached at the stem at fan out the pear slices as shown in the photos, or remove the stem and arrange the slices however you prefer. I retained one half of a pear and diced the fruit into small cubes to use inbetween the two cake layers.

For the crumble:

1/4 cup (about 50g) firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup (about 35g) flour

25g (about 2 tbsp) cold butter, diced

Optional: A pinch of cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking tray with baking paper
2. Place ingredients in a bowl rub between fingers to distribute butter throughout the dry ingredients. Mixture should resemble large breadcrumbs
3. Spread mixture in an even layer on baking paper and bake. Check on mixture every 5 minutes, it may start to melt down into a giant thin cookie, just use a fork to break up the mixture and maintain a crumb consistency.
4. Bake until mixture starts to go dark golden brown on the edges, ensure it does not burn. Leak on tray to cool completely.

For the salted caramel icing:

250g (2 sticks plus 2 tbsp) butter, softened

2 cups (about 250g) icing/confectioner's sugar, sifted

About 1 cup salted caramel sauce (recipe above), adjust to desired taste and texture

Place butter and salted caramel in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high until smooth and combined.

1. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy. 
2. To assemble cake; trim cakes to ensure that their tops are level. Place one layer of cake (cut side up) on your cake stand/plate.
3. Place 1 cup of salted caramel icing in a piping bag with a wide star tip attached. Pipe a circle of icing about half a cm inside from the edge of the cake, then use a spatula to spread a layer of icing inside the piped circle. (I also spread a layer, using half a pear, of  small cubes of pear throughout the icing, this is optional) Sandwich with the other cake layer (cut side down) and repeat with another layer of icing.
4. Arrange sliced pear of top and sprinkle a layer of crumble on top. Pour extra salted caramel sauce on top (you may need to warm the sauce up quickly in the microwave if it has become too thick to pour). Serve immediately. If serving layer, keep crumble and sauce separate and place on top right before serving.