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    TaraTeaspoon » Recipes » Tips And Techniques

    Ice Cream Topper: Caramel Glazed Cake Croutons

    Published: Aug 16, 2016 · Updated: Aug 14, 2022 by Tara Teaspoon · This page contains affiliate and sponsored links. See my full disclosure

    Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe
    Pinterest image for Caramel Glazed Cake Croutons with text
    cake croutons with caramel glaze recipe pin
    Caramel Glazed Cake Croutons long pin

    Caramel glazed cake croutons. Yes! CAKE. CROUTONS. You read that correctly. They are also covered in an addictive crunchy toffee! Gasp.


    These lightly crunchy, cake croutons are delicious on top of ice cream, toppled onto pudding, or just popped in your watering mouth.

    pound cake covered in caramel sauce to make croutons, on top of ice cream

    Caramel covered pound cake

    Pound cake is just rich and sturdy enough to hold up under the pressure of a caramel coating. I say that because I would feel under pressure if I were coated with caramel. I don't know if I'd do as well as these little cubes of cake. Would you?

    Cake cubes covered with caramel make a perfect ice cream topping. Crunchy, sweet and crackly!

    Making caramel

    Now let's talk some more about this caramel. If you've never caramelized sugar, at home, by yourself...don't worry one bit! The most important thing is washing the sides of the pan with a brush and water. Let me explain:

    Once the sugar dissolves in the water, if any of the little granules remain anywhere near the liquid (meaning on the sides of the pan, the stirring spoon, etc.) they will cause the entire batch to crystallize. The easy fix is to have a little dish of water, and a clean pastry brush handy.

    All you have to master to make Caramel Glazed Cake Croutons is cooking a little sugar and water to make caramel!

    Wash down the sides of the pan to prevent crystals

    Once you've stirred the sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved, remove the spoon, and start brushing the insides of the pan with water. The water will wash down the sides, clearing any granules and moving them into the mixture to dissolve along with their friends.

    You don't need to be excessive. Just a few rounds of washing and you're done. Then let your mixture bubble. The water is evaporating. You want this to happen. Once the water is evaporated the sugar can begin to caramelize. This is the same method I use for homemade caramel sauces like my Gingerbread Caramel Sauce.

    Now, this goes fast! Watch, and swirl the pan so the mixture caramelizes evenly. Take it off the heat when you are happy with the color of the caramel. Use a CLEAN spoon or spatula to scrape any of the caramel out of the pan. You're done. You're a superstar!

    pound cake caramel croutons w pan in background

    The next step is to make caramel glazed cake croutons by coating every inch of the cake cubes with the delicious stuff. I use two forks, or a clean silicone spatula to separate them. They cool to crunchy goodness on the parchment.

    Serving Sweet Croutons:

    • Try them with any of these delicious ice cream flavors.
    • Make my creamy eggless Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.
    • Add them to a homemade Chocolate Ice Cream recipe.

    I think you'll also like my Chocolate Covered Pretzel Pie. It's all the flavors of your favorite chocolate-covered pretzel snack, whipped into a creamy pie!

    If you love toffee and caramel and everything nice, you will dig my Pumpkin Cake Roll with Toffee Cream Cheese Filling. It's also one of the most beautiful cakes you'll ever make!

    📖 Recipe

    Caramel glazed cake croutons top a bowl of vanilla ice cream

    Caramel-Glazed Cake Croutons

    Tara Teaspoon
    Make caramel glazed cake croutons. Yes! CAKE. CROUTONS. You read that correctly. Also you read that they are covered with buttery caramel! Gasp.
    5 from 12 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Work Time 5 minutes mins
    Cook Time 6 minutes mins
    Total Time 20 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Servings 5 cups of croutons

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 Frozen or fresh pound cake (cut into ½-inch cubes (about 5½ cups total))
    • ¾ cup sugar
    • 3 tablespoon water
    • 4 tablespoon unsalted butter

    Instructions
     

    • Heat oven to 350°F. Cut pound cake into ½-inch cubes. Toast in oven on a baking sheet, turning once, until just golden around the edges, about 15 min.
    • Line another baking sheet with parchment; set aside. In a pot over medium-high heat, combine sugar, water and unsalted butter to make caramel. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture reaches a boil. (Brush inside of pot with a wet pastry brush to remove stray sugar crystals.) Boil gently without stirring until caramel is medium amber, about 8 minutes.
    • Remove from heat and immediately add cake cubes to pot; stir very gently to coat. Quickly pour cubes on parchment and separate. I use two forks or spatulas to separate them. Let cool.

    Notes

    Dress up a dish of ice cream or fruit salad with caramel glazed cake croutons. Yum!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 371kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 3gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 324mgPotassium: 59mgFiber: 1gSugar: 52gVitamin A: 376IUCalcium: 45mgIron: 2mg
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    Tara Teaspoon

    I’ve been in food publishing for over 25 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television, food brands, & advertising. With two cookbooks under my belt and thousands of my recipes at your fingertips, I hope you'll be inspired to spend more time in the kitchen!

    More about Tara

    Recipe by Tara Teaspoon. Photographer Antonis AchilleosOriginally published LHJ July 09.

    Comments

      5 from 12 votes

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    1. Mary Bench says

      July 17, 2018 at 2:55 pm

      Well I've tried these and they are divine!

      Reply
    2. Brittany Smart says

      July 19, 2018 at 3:02 pm

      Who knew croutons could be even more delicious!

      Reply
    3. Anne Marie Miller says

      July 22, 2019 at 2:28 pm

      So delicious! 10/10 would recommend it to everyone!

      Reply
    4. Shelley says

      August 25, 2020 at 8:28 am

      I have never, ever heard of cake croutons, and now I just can't figure out how they've been missing from my life all this time! What a brilliant, absolutely wonderful (and yet so very simple) recipe idea! So creative, and I can think of loads of uses for them! I'm in love!

      Reply
    5. Candice says

      August 25, 2020 at 10:58 am

      I never want to have ice cream without these croutons ever again! Sug a great idea to make croutons out of pound cake, and they are absolutely delicious. Highly recommend!

      Reply
    6. Amanda says

      August 26, 2020 at 9:40 am

      These glazed cake croutons are brilliant! What a fun and creative way to dress up ice cream. They turned out delicious.

      Reply
    7. Paula Montenegro says

      August 27, 2020 at 10:58 am

      This is the best idea ever to use those pieces of cake from the top and the last piece that dried out! I love this idea and will put it into practice asap!

      Reply
    8. Kathryn Donangelo says

      August 27, 2020 at 12:31 pm

      What a GENIUS idea! Pound cake makes the best croutons and is my new favorite topping. SO glad I tried this recipe! Thank you!

      Reply
    9. Citra's Home Diary says

      August 28, 2020 at 4:30 am

      Such a great idea to use mu left over frozen cake as delicious topping! thank you for sharing the idea.

      Reply
    10. Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer says

      August 29, 2020 at 1:25 pm

      What the what?!!! This is BRILLIANT!!! I'm in love with this so much!!!

      Reply
    11. Leslie says

      August 29, 2020 at 9:51 pm

      This is probably the best thing you could add to ice cream! These look amazing!

      Reply
    12. Debbie says

      August 30, 2020 at 12:42 am

      These Caramel Glazed Cake Croutons are just pure genius ! What a wonderful topping for ice cream that everyone needs to try!

      Reply
    13. Veronika says

      August 30, 2020 at 12:18 pm

      OMG! I've never saw these caramelized cake croutons before! Such a great idea, I definitely need to try it!

      Reply

    Hi, I'm Tara Teaspoon!

    I’ve been sharing my original ideas for years. What began as a passion, turned into a publishing career as Food Editor at Martha Stewart Living and Ladies’ Home Journal magazines.

    Now I write cookbooks, and share delicious recipes and expert cooking tips with you here! Thanks for stopping by Tara Teaspoon!

    More about me →

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