Snickerdoodle Cake

My friend Kate recently celebrated her 30th birthday and I offered to bake a cake for the celebration, whatever she wanted.  Kate baked me a cake for my birthday this summer for which she actually made lemon curd from scratch, so lets just say I owed her.  She found this recipe for Snickerdoodle cake online, and it is an amazing concoction of cinnamon, vanilla and BUTTER.  A link to the recipe is here, and I also reprinted it below.  I made a few modifications, which I included at the end.  Sadly, I was only able to take a picture of the very last piece, it was that good!

Ingredients

For the Cake:
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups fine or superfine sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk, warmed to room temperature
For the Buttercream:
• 4 1/2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 8-9 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of half and half, plus more if needed
Optional:
• Whole cinnamon sticks for garnish

Instructions

To Bake the Cake:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in colour.

Beat the eggs in one at a time, fully incorporating each egg and scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

Add about 1/3 of the milk, beat to incorporate, then 1/3 of the flour, again beating to incorporate.

Repeat this process, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until all of the milk and flour are added and mixed in evenly.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake, rotating midway through, for about 35 minutes or until the cake tests done.

Let the cakes cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes before turning out onto the racks to finish cooling.

To Make the Buttercream:

Beat together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until fluffy and pale in colour.

Add 6 cups of the confectioner's sugar and the vanilla extract and beat, starting on low and moving up to high, until it is fully incorporated.

Scrape down the bowl and add the half and half. Beat to incorporate again.

Add another 2 cups of the confectioner's sugar and beat, starting on low and moving up to high, until fully incorporated. Check the consistency of the buttercream. If it needs to be thicker, add the remaining confectioner's sugar. If it is too thick, add more half and half a teaspoon at a time, beating after each addition, until it reaches the consistency you like.

To Assemble and Frost the Cake:

Level out your cooled cakes and cut each into two even layers.

Place one layer on a cake plate then add a layer of buttercream, spreading to the edges and evening out as you go. Repeat with the remaining layers.

Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream.

If desired, garnish the top of the cake with whole cinnamon sticks.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before slicing.

Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator. 

 ***** I was making a cake for a crowd so I needed to expand on the recipe.  Instead of using a 8 or 9-inch round cake pan like the recipe calls for, I used an 11x17 cake pan. I put all of the cake batter into the 11x17 pan, so I had to make the recipe twice to get two layers.  However, I didn't double the icing. This recipe makes an ENORMOUS amount of icing.  If you're not going to double the cake recipe I recommend halving the icing recipe.  I'm actually surprised I'm saying that.  I love icing.*****

Butterscotch Cake

There is just so much I can say about this cake.  I joke this cake is a 'secret family recipe'.  The smell of this cake permeates my memories of growing up.  This may just be the only food item my father knows how to use an oven for, although the recipe is from my mother's side of the family.  When I was in 1st grade and we had to demonstrate how to do something to the class, and I taught them how to make this cake.  My brother and sister can also make this cake and have made this cake.  Wars have been started and ended over this cake.  What else can I say? Make it, you're gonna love it!

Ingredients
-2 cups milk
-1 box 'Cook & Serve' butterscotch pudding mix (NOT instant)
-1 box yellow (vanilla) cake mix
-1 bag butterscotch chips (go for the more expensive ones)

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 13x9 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray or a little oil.
Step 2:  Mix the milk and pudding mix into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly (basically, follow the directions on the pudding box).
Step 3: Remove the pudding from burner, and stir in the cake mix.  It will be lumpy, don't worry though this doesn't matter.
Step 4: Pour this mixture into the 13x9 inch pan.  You may have to spread it out a little with a spoon because it will be thick
Step 5: Sprinkle the butterscotch chips over the top of the cake and put it in the preheated oven.
Step 6: Bake approximately 25-30 minutes, until the top is all melty and starting to turn a golden-brown

*I would just like to point out that this recipe has no eggs in it, so you don't have to worry about eating the batter!! woohoo!!
**If you're like me and never have milk ( you definitely need cows milk for this), I just made it the other day using powdered milk and you couldn't tell the difference!