Salted Caramel and Ginger Traycake

The email informing me of a baking competition at uni a few weeks ago was one I definitely couldn't ignore. I had to make a traybake that could potentially be sold on campus, in the set size foil tray provided. So I set about baking my tried and tested ginger cake, flavoured with stem ginger pieces, ginger syrup and ground ginger, and topped with salted caramel buttercream.

I have to say, this definitely isn't a cake for the nutritionally conscious. It is full of calories, especially when cut into just 10 pieces. But I guess, if you are going to have any cake you may as well indulge. I learnt a couple of lessons when baking this cake. The first was that you shouldn't try to be organised, and the second that you shouldn't try and be a cheapskate. Both factors led to me having to make a second caramel sauce as the first one crystallised during storage, partly contributed to by my use of granulated over caster sugar making it prone to reverting back to crystal  form. But a little bit of resurrecting, some quick caramel freezing to cool it down, and the frosting worked. I definitely still like the amendment I made when I previously baked this, making a proper buttercream instead of a buttery frosting as it holds up better and doesn't melt in the heat quite as much. I hope they appreciate my bake, but either way I enjoyed the challenge of making it, and that is what baking should be about.