THIS WEEK I was lucky enough to taste the most amazing coffee and salted caramel ice cream.

It was probably the nicest joining of flavours I've encountered for a dessert.

I am not the biggest fan of fruit and chocolate pairings so I am always on the lookout for other flavours that bond well. The ice cream had me wondering that perhaps I could make a cake in a similar vein.

I'm sharing with you this month a recipe for that cake. The saltiness of the buttercream compliments the coffee-flavour sponge perfectly, I hope you enjoy trying it as much as I did!

Salted caramel is a traditional treat in Brittany. More recently, Pierre Hermé, the Parisian pastry chef known for his experimentation, invented a salted caramel macaroon that inspired a small cult among American food professionals in the late 1990s.

Soon after, American chefs began combining sea salt with a variety of sweets, including caramel and chocolate.

The recent popularity of salted caramel has led to the incarnation of other confections such as salted caramel ice creams, cakes, cocoas, and flavoured coffees. This has also led to the confection's appearance in more mainstream shops too.

In fact if you look closely enough there are salted caramel options everywhere!

It is made by carefully boiling sugar until it turns a light brown colour, then adding heated cream, butter, and vanilla, and stirring until mixed. When cooled, the mixture becomes pliable and chewy.

Salted caramel is made by sprinkling fleur de sel, or another variety of sea salt, on top of the mixture as it is cooling.

The popularity of gourmet sea salts has led to a variety of salts being used for salted caramel also. So keep your eyes peeled for these options too.

Coffee of course is a popular choice for a cake and I have shared with you previously more complex recipes for this type of cake, however in this recipe, the salted caramel buttercream can be a little faffy so I wanted to keep the sponge cake recipe simple.

You can if you prefer change the instant coffee granules for a shot of espresso this will make the cake stronger in taste and perhaps perk you up a little more along with the sugar rush!

The great thing is that although real salted caramel requires patience, dexterity and a sugar-thermometer, a salted caramel sauce for buttercream can be rustled up with just some clear instruction so do not be put off by the complexity of the recipe.

This cake should be shared with friends, with coffee of course. To make it more festive you could also decorate with edible gold glitter!

* Have you missed any of Michelle's previous Slice of Life articlesin the Keighley News? Never fear, simply visit our website, keighleynews.co.uk, click on What's On then Food & Drink. There you'll find all of Michelle's recipes, along with the best of Baker Mike and Nick at Amici's Restaurant.