White Velvet Buttermilk Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

A dear friend of mine, whom I’ve known since high school, and her fantastic partner were married over the weekend. These two amazing women complement each other so well! Could not be happier for the both of them and cannot wait to see them grow in love and experience life’s great adventures together.

The wonderful couple asked me shortly after getting engaged, if I could make one of the cakes for their wedding (the full-dairy, non-gluten free cake). To which I of course said, “Yes!” They knew exactly what they wanted, a white cake with salted caramel buttercream.

For the cake, I chose to make a white velvet. This has now become my go to recipe for white cakes and/or vanilla cake. It is light and fluffy in texture and pairs so well with different flavors of frosting. Also, it seems to be very well liked by everyone that has tasted it.

The salted caramel buttercream is a snap to make. Instead of having to make your caramel from scratch, you can use a can of dulce de leche.

The part I was most worried about was stacking the cake, as there were to be two tiers each with two layers of cake. This was my first time being asked to do so. Thankfully, I did my research. I took my time making sure each layer itself was level, then the same for each tier. The salted caramel buttercream was used for both the filling and the frosting of the cake as requested by the brides. Honestly, this is the most Zen I have been in a while when baking for an order. Not one big hiccup occurred. It was as if the baking goddesses were with me.

 

Note: I did use a kitchen scale for most of the ingredients while making the cake. If you do not own one, I have included the equivalence in cups, etc. in parenthesis. When making for the wedding, I tripled the recipe below to make sure I had enough batter to fill each layer of the tiered cake.

White Velvet Buttermilk Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting

Ingredients:

12 oz. Cake Flour (1 1/2 Cups)
12 oz. Sugar (1 1/2 Cups)
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
5 oz. Egg Whites, room temperature (about 5 eggs)
4 oz. Vegetable Oil (1/2 Cup)
10 oz. Buttermilk, room temperature (1 1/4 Cups)
6 oz. Butter, unsalted and softened (3/4 Cup)
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

2 Cups Butter, unsalted and softened
1 can Dulce de Leche
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¼ Teaspoon Salt, or to taste
2 to 3 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted

Directions:

Note: It is important that all of the room temperature ingredients that are listed are room temperature.

Cake: Heat oven to 335 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare your cake pans with baking spray. This recipe makes two 8-inch cakes or three 6-inch cakes.

In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a hand mixer, or stand mixer, mix for 10 seconds.

In a small bowl mix a ½ cup of the buttermilk and all of the vegetable oil, set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the egg whites, vanilla extract and the remaining buttermilk together. Whisk to break up the egg whites, set aside.

Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix on low until mixture resembles coarse sand, about 30 seconds. Add in the buttermilk/oil mixture and mix on low until moistened, then bump up the speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes to develop the cake structure.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and reduce the speed to low again. Add in the egg white mixture in three batches, allowing the batter to mix for 15 seconds in between.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl again to make sure all ingredients are incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

After removing from the oven immediately tap the cake pans on the countertop to release the steam from the cake. This will help stop the cake from shrinking.

Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes inside the cake pans before turning them out and allowing them to cool completely on cooling racks.

Frosting: Cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in the dulce de leche and mix until incorporated.

Add the vanilla and salt. Start by adding a ¼ teaspoon of salt, then add more if needed. Mix until combined.

Gradually mix in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl often to make sure everything is incorporated. After adding in all of the sugar, mix on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes to get the frosting fluffy.

Once cooled, you can frost and decorate your cake. Enjoy!!

Recipe courtesy of Sugar Geek Show (cake) and Tatyana’s Everyday Food (frosting)

Note: If you would also like to create a tiered cake, please check out the I Scream for Buttercream blog for detailed instructions.