Here is a recipe that sounds about right, everyone wants it for their birthday.

Southern Caramel Cake Recipe - Add a Pinch

Thanks! That one looks yummy! (Not to mention, full of flavor.) ;) It would be great for a seasonal, fall cake, maybe garnished with some nuts and molded, maple leaf decorations.

I challenge all of you QB bakers out there to enter a cake in your own, county fair. We're not competing with each other and it would be fun to share tips and ideas. Our fair is in September, as I think that most county fairs are, so there's plenty of time. Go for it!

I just found a very interesting cake recipe on the Food Network's site: Chocolate Tahini Cake with Tahini Frosting, https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...osting-5580236

Thanks, Onebyone. Hummm...those are expensive, gourmet ingredients. Do ya think that they are worth the cost? I'll have to consider those options.

I find vanilla paste at Tuesday Mornings, Khols, Home Goods, etc. for a reasonable price. i would definitely say the Saigon cinnamon is wonderful and worth the cost. One sniff and you are in a bakery. McCormick has a good Saigon cinnamon. It's getting hard to find though. When a store has it I buy four or five jars. I'm on my last jar so have been looking. I make snickerdoodles, cinnamon bread, cinnamon toast, and cinnamon buns so I use a lot of the cinnamon. I tried the Cylon cinnamon but like Saigon the best. And the organic cinnamon does not have the best flavor.

Minnesota Chocolate cake is delish!! Recipe can be googled.

You can get something called bakery emulsion that is supposed to be a flavor enhancer. Made by Lorann. I've haven't used it but see in stores. Not super expensive so it might be worth a try.

Hummm...interesting. I'll have to hunt for that and read up on it. I'll bet that they have it at King Arthur, or Wilton's. Thanks.

A couple of years ago, I wanted to enter a Strawberry cake in the fair, so I found a recipe that called for freeze dried strawberry powder that would enhance the flavor. I tried it, but frankly, I thought it tasted awful! It gave the cake a very artificial taste, even though it was just dried strawberries.

I am going to try the vanilla paste and Saigon Cinnamon though. Once, I find the kind of cake that I want to bake, I'll make some trial, miniature cakes, using my smaller, 6" pans. I can make some with special additives and some without and see how they taste. This is going to be a fattening summer.

Oooh...that sounds interesting. My ancestors were from Minn.

Here's some cool tips about making a better cake:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/collecti...-from-grandma/

and

https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitc...e-better-cakes