Labor of Love Birthday Cake

Caroline made this for my birthday one year when I was visiting Utah and I thought I had died an gone to heaven. Hers was so beautiful and delicious, I had it the next morning for breakfast. I remember posting this picture for all my friends to see. And I remember her telling me how labor intensive it was too. Boy did I feel loved!

So I decided to attempt it for a Relief Society Birthday dinner this year. It turned out...not quite as pretty, but just as tasty. It was a long process and I had lots of interruptions during and even took a couple days to make it. I learned that I probably shouldn't have refrigerated the buttercream before frosting. I also flipped mine over after frosting it with the chocolate cake on top, realizing that I didn't want the ganache on the chocolate layer. Just follow the directions exactly if you are going to make this cake.

It definitely is a labor of love. But part of the labor was translating the grams into cups, so I decided to put it on the blog for quicker reference here. Because...I am making it again TODAY! Anna is coming home from Delaware tonight! And Loren's Birthday is TOMORROW! Becca's wedding is on SATURDAY! Super exciting week ahead. It calls for this kind of celebration.

The blog we got it off calls it The Most Beautiful Cake I've Ever Made and you can click the link to see what it is supposed to look like, or just look at Caroline's cake above. For some reason they had ample buttercream to decorate the top with all of those roses. Maybe it had something to do with not refrigerating it.

Here is my first attempt. After flipping the cake over, it didn't look so pretty. I was hoping I'd have enough buttercream to pipe some flowers at the bottom to hide the gap. Not so...ha!

This was our "English Tea Party" Birthday dinner where we celebrated women and the many hats we wear. Special guest talk show host Audrey Hepburn was the cutest. Can you find her? Such a fun ward. Love these ladies.

Update! 2nd time around, the buttercream spread like a charm and even had enough for the flowers on top. Ganache was better the first time...hmmmm.

*** LABOR OF LOVE BIRTHDAY CAKE RECIPE ***

WHITE CAKE

1/3 cup milk
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

• Whisk milk, egg whites and extracts together.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
• Beat the butter into the flour mixture.
• Then beat in the milk and egg white mixture, in 2 additions.
• Pour into a 6 inch cake tin that has been well buttered and floured.
• Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer poked in the center comes out clean.

CARAMEL SYRUP (for use in Caramel Cake and Buttercream Frosting)

1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup water

• Combine sugar and 3/4 cup water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
• Stop stirring and continue to cook until a deep golden, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in 3/4 cup water, remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

CARAMEL CAKE

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature

4 Tbsp of caramel syrup
1 egg

1 cup + 2 Tbsp cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the caramel syrup and egg until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
• Alternate beating the flour mixture and milk into the batter.
• Pour into a 6 inch cake tin that has been well buttered and floured.
• Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer poked in the center comes out clean.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar

1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Whisk together cocoa powder and boiling water until smooth. Then whisk in the milk. Set aside to cool.
• Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt.
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract until smooth.
• Whisk in the cocoa mixture, then fold in the flour until just combined.
• Butter a 6 inch cake tin and coat with cocoa powder.
• Pour batter into the tin and bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer poked in the center comes out clean.

CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM

2 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar

1 cup butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes

6 Tbsp caramel syrup

• In a double broiler, whisk egg whites and sugar over simmering water until they reach 60° Celsius
• Transfer to a stand mixer and beat on medium high for 5-10 minutes, until the egg whites are glossy and have doubled in size.
• Lower the speed down to medium and beat in butter, about 1 Tbsp at a time. Add the next cube only when the first has been incorporated.
• Once all the butter has been beaten in, drizzle the caramel syrup in slowly while beating. Then increase the speed to high and beat until you have a smooth buttercream.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

1/2 cup cream

3/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped
1 tsp butter

• Bring cream to a simmer
• Pour over chocolate and butter and stir until you have a glossy and thick chocolate sauce. Set aside to cool.

ASSEMBLY

• Place chocolate cake as base
• Spread caramel buttercream onto it and place the caramel cake over
• Spread caramel buttercream on to it and place white cake over.
• Frost the entire cake with the caramel buttercream, but do not use all if you want to pipe more decorations over the ganache later
• Pour chocolate ganache over the top of the cake and allow it to drip down the sides. If you have ganache that is too thick to pour, heat it up for a while. If it's pourable but not dripping, nudge it a bit with a spatula.
• Chill the cake for about 15 minutes, decorate with more frosting. And you're done! Chill for a while more, then enjoy!