– 1 ½ sticks (170g) unsalted butter, softened – 2 cups (400g) sugar – 4 large eggs, room temperature – 3 cups (342g) cake flour – 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder – ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda – ½ teaspoon (3g) salt – 1 ¼ cups (296g) buttermilk if you do not have buttermilk – ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil – 1 Tablespoon (12g) vanilla extract – 1 stick (114g) unsalted butter – 2 cups (234g) light or dark brown sugar packed into cup – 1 cup (242g) milk – ½ teaspoon (4g) salt – 1 ½ teaspoon (5g) vanilla extract – 2 Tablespoons (36g) light corn syrup – 1 stick (114g) unsalted butter, softened – 5 cups (585g) powdered sugar – 1 ½ cups Homemade Caramel Sauce – ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
Grease and flour three 8x2 inch round pans and preheat oven at 350 degrees.Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds in a medium bowl. Set asideTo another basin, add buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Set aside.
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Mix butter in mixer bowl at medium speed until creamy. Add sugar slowly and mix on medium speed for 3–5 minutes until lightened and fluffy. After adding each egg, mix until the yolk is no longer yellow.
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Add flour and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with dry components (3 dry and 2 liquid).Avoid overmixing cake batter over medium speed.Bake at 350 degrees for 25–30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with few crumbs. Turn out after 10 minutes.
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To make the caramel sauce.Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a pot that is medium-sized and deep enough to keep the butter from boiling over.Crack open the butter and mix in the brown sugar, milk, salt, vanilla, and light corn syrup.
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Turn the mixture slowly to avoid sticking to the pan. Turn the heat down and cover the saucepan when the mixture boils. Simmer 5–6 minutes. Check the pot occasionally to avoid boiling. A pot lid steams sugar crystals off the sides.
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Pour into a heatproof basin after the timer goes off. The caramel will seem thin, but it thickens as it cools. Use in frosting after cooling. Refrigeration speeds up the process. About 2 cups sauce.Keep ½ cup caramel for layering the cake.
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Add softened butter to bowl and whisk until smooth. Add half the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined.Gradually add 1 ½ cups caramel sauce and remaining powdered sugar.
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Increase speed to medium and mix for 3–4 minutes until frosting is thoroughly blended and creamy. Finally, mix for 1-2 minutes on the lowest setting to minimize air bubbles.
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Put the first vanilla cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal.I used a disposable piping bag with the tip clipped to pipe caramel buttercream around the cake layer.Add ¼ cup of caramel to the dam on top of the cake layer (adjust to taste).
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Cover caramel glaze with caramel frosting. You can spread the next cake layer with frosting and adhere it frosting-side-down on the first cake layer instead of piping the buttercream onto the filling. Repeat with other cake layers.I used the same piping bag as the dam to ice any gaps between the cake layers.
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Thinly crumb coat cake. Now I chill the cake for 10-15 minutes or more.Colding hardens everything for final frosting application, preventing layer shifting during decorating.Use an offset spatula to swirl the buttercream after adding the final icing. The buttercream shell border was made using medium star tip 21.
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