The Night Circus - Caramel Apple & Popcorn Cake

I run the Norwich Clandestine Cake Club and this month I set the theme of Turn The Page, cakes based on our favourite books. It's no secret that The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is one of my favourites so it was the obvious choice.

The Night Circus is a magical story in more ways than one. It is about Le Cirque des Rêves, a travelling circus.

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. The black sign, painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, reads:
Opens at Nightfall
Closes at Dawn"

This is no ordinary circus, there are no clowns or elephants, no big tent with circus ringmaster, instead there are lots of individual tents you can wonder through, including an ice garden, a cloud maze and a pool of tears, but these are no illusions. The magic is real and it's part of a duel between between two young magicians, Celia and Marco.

“I tried to explain as much as I could," Poppet says. "I think I made an analogy about cake."
"Well, that must have worked," Widget says. "Who doesn't like a good cake analogy?” 
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
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Food is an important part of the story and I love the way Erin Morgenstern draws the reader into the circus by using second person descriptions. It feels like you're really there and reminded me of the style I used for my Virtual Experiences. It's like you can smell the popcorn cooking and taste the sweet, crisp caramel apples. These flavours stayed with me and I wanted to incorporate them into my cake.

The Recipes

I decided to make a Caramel Apple Popcorn Cake and I went on a Google mission to find some recipes. I discovered this recipe for The Perfect Caramel Cake and I can honestly say it was perfect. Light, not too sweet but with a distinct caramel flavour. There aren't many cake recipes I decide to use again but this is one of them.

To bring in the element of caramel apples I initially considered grating apple into my cake, something I will try in the future, but I was wary about adding extra liquid to a recipe I had never tried before. Instead I decided to caramelise apples and use them to sandwich the layers together, with a little of the caramel topping. It worked really well, adding a depth of flavour and a fresh tang - I used Cox's Apples for their acidity and it balanced out the buttery caramel.

All that left was the decoration. I'm more of a baker than a decorator and tend to focus on the taste rather than the appearance but this cake was special so I got creative.

The circus has many loyal fans who follow it across the globe. They are called Reveurs and you can recognise them by their red scarves. I decided to crochet my own out of strawberry laces. Practical, warm and delicious if you get peckish. 
 
I tried doing a full crochet scarf but sadly the laces were too short so I settled on short chains I used to ring the cake.

I added white and dark stars inspired by the cover and topped it off with the all important popcorn.

“They seek each other out, these people of such specific like mind. They tell of how they found the circus, how those first few steps were like magic. Like stepping into a fairy tale under a curtain of stars. They pontificate upon the fluffiness of the popcorn, the sweetness of the chocolate. They spend hours discussing the quality of the light, the heat of the bonfire. They sit over their drinks smiling like children and they relish being surrounded by kindred spirits, if only for an evening. When they depart, they shake hands and embrace like old friends, even if they have only just met, and as they go their separate ways they feel less alone than they had before.” 
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
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​Book Themed Cake - The Night Circus. Caramel cake with a caramelised apple filling, topped with caramel and finished with chocolate stars, edible crocheted strawberry scarves and a popcorn topping.

The cake went down really well, with requests for the recipe - always a good sign. I enjoyed it almost as much as I enjoyed reading the book. In fact I think I need to go and get a piece and settle down to reread it now.

“Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forget that... there are many kinds of magic, after all.” 
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
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