St. Patrick’s Day Cake – Candy Coated Culinista
St. Patrick’s day is almost here and I have made a stacked cake for the occasion.
Yield/Serving: 2 – 6” pans & 1 – 8” pan, serves 8-10
Prep Time: 60 min.
Cook Time: 30–45 min.
Difficulty level is: Medium, time consuming
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cup granulated sugar
• Egg whites from 10 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking salt
• 1 ½ cups 2% milk
Buttercream Frosting
• 2 cups butter, at room temperature
• 6 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 8 tbsp milk, more if needed
Creamy Caramel
• ¾ cups heavy cream
• 1/3 cups unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup water
Decorations
• Kelly green gel frosting
• Moss green food colouring
• Shamrock sprinkles
• Caramel
Assembly
Vanilla Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Trace out the pan using parchment paper and place in the bottom of three pans.
3. Spray pans with non-stick spray and set aside.
4. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
5. Add in egg whites and vanilla and continue to beat until incorporated.
6. In a large sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
7. Pour into butter mixture alternating between milk and flour mixture three times.
8. Split the batter and add food colouring into two separate batches by hand and fold in.
9. Pour into three pans, smooth tops and slam pans on the counter top to release air bubble and ensure an even bake.
10. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.
11. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes and turn out onto cooling rack and remove parchment paper.
12. Let cool completely.
Creamy Caramel
1. Place cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
2. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan over high heat and cook, stirring with a metal spoon until combined.
4. Bring mixture to a boil and cook without stirring until temperature reaches 350°F using a candy thermometer and the mixture is a deep golden colour.
5. Remove from heat and working fast, add butter mixture in a thin steady stream, stirring to combine.
6. Return the pan to low heat and cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until caramel has thickened slightly.
7. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool at room temperature.
Buttercream Frosting
1. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter until fluffy.
2. Add confectioner’s sugar and milk and combine until well incorporated.
Stacked Cake Assembly
1. Use a serrated knife, trim tops and even out if necessary to level out the cakes.
2. Crumb coat each cake and place in fridge and allow to firm up.
3. Frost each cake layer and smear a little frosting on the silver disc so cake doesn’t move.
4. Place first 8” vanilla layer on the bottom layer and spread some buttercream frosting over top.
5. Then place a 6” layer over and spread buttercream frosting over top.
6. Drizzle caramel over the edges of both cakes and allow to run down the sides.
7. Stack one 6” cake on top of the centre of the 8” cake and sprinkle the shamrock sprinkles over the buttercream portion.
8. Then pipe along the edges beside the caramel.
9. For the second baby tasting cake drizzle caramel along the edges and the sprinkle shamrock sprinkles and pipe along the edges.
10. Serve and enjoy.
Tips
• Buy a container of egg whites, unless you are going to have a use for all these egg yolks.
• Use caramel from a jar if desired. I had leftover caramel from my tarte tartin so I used that.
Please Enjoy
My thoughts
This was my first stacked cake and this was on my goals list. I was for the most part happy with how the cake turned out besides the application of the caramel. I found it hard to get the proper consistency and then the drizzle factor along with not melting the frosting. For a first attempt I was quite happy, so I’m not going to sweat it too much. Guests enjoyed it and were impressed that I made the cake; which was nice; but of course I saw all the flaws. It did however taste good and once the special guest of the day realized I had baked a cake, she told one of the servers to take away the rest so her and her husband could enjoy a proper slice at home. That totally flattered me.
candy coated culinista 