..Caramel Cake

I am not sure if any of you read the book, "The Help"  but I did.  As much as I loved the story and all the really well developed characters, from the minute they started talking about Minny's famous "Caramel Cake" I really couldn't stop thinking about anything else.  Being a Jersey girl and not from Mississippi, I had never heard of this kind of cake, is it layered? Is the cake batter caramel flavor? Does it have frosting? SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS!  Anyway, I found this recipe for the most amazing, dense, decadent pound cake from none other than Southern Living and it is simply divine.  I made some home made caramel sauce to drizzle over top of it which was absolute perfection.  I imagine Minny Jackson's caramel cake looks something like this one I have concocted. 

Ingredients
3 sticks of butter (softened)
1 package cream cheese
6 eggs
3 cups sugar
3 sifted cups flour with 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Beat butter and cream cheese together until whipped smooth and then mix in the sugar 1 cup at a time.
3. When the sugar is well combined into the butter/cream cheese, add in the vanilla extract and the eggs (one egg at a time).
4. Add in flour (slowly) to the butter mixture until you have a smooth cake batter.
5. Bake in a greased 10 inch bunt pan for 1 hour and 40 mins then let cool completely before removing.

Caramel Sauce
Bring four tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup milk (or cream), and 1 cup packed brown sugar and a pinch of salt to a simmer.  Add 1 tablespoon vanilla and whisk for 7-10 minutes or until thick.