The moment came… I have officially joined the 30 and over club.
Feelings of anxiousness, uncertainty, and questioning every life decision occurred right on schedule. Alllllll of those feelings went away when I decided it was time to make my birthday cake.
I highly encourage you to make this buttermilk vanilla cake, soaked in amaretto and slathered with decadent chocolate sour cream frosting any time that you are:
1- having a rough day
2- are celebrating anything at all
3- need a dessert for your in-law’s visit
4- want cake
5- in any day ending in “day”
Cake aside, I do need to shout out my amazing friends who put together a gorgeous day of wine and food for me, also my family who took me out to my absolute favorite French restaurant for the occasion. Ya’ll are the real MVP’s. You made turning 30 a lot less intimidating, and a lot more intoxicated. For that, I thank you.
(Side note, for me “intoxicated” really just means I had 2 glasses of wine and was feeling fine)
This cake is everything you want in a yellow cake. It’s buttery, soft, very vanilla, adequately hydrated (you know me by now, I will not be using that “m” word), and this time it is soaked with amaretto. This is my go-to for vanilla cake.
It just so happens to be paired with my absolute favorite chocolate frosting. This is a gem I created by combining my love of chocolate sour cream frosting, and an incredible chocolate honey glaze that I first loved from my queen Nigella’s recipe.
So just as a quick recap: vanilla, amaretto, chocolate, sour cream, honey.
You in?
Let’s get to it!
You will need for 2 8-inch cake layers:
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold salted butter cut into cubes
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
3 teaspoons good vanilla extract
5 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup amaretto liquor
You will need for 5 cups of chocolate sour cream frosting:
14 ounces bittersweet chocolate (or semisweet if you like sweeter frosting)
1/2 cup good honey
2 cups sour cream
pinch salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick room temperature butter
6 ounces room temperature cream cheese
For the cake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
With the mixer on low, add in the cold butter a little at a time and combine until it becomes the texture of sand. This is a similar method to our scones and shortbread crust.
Add in 1/2 cup of the buttermilk, and whip on medium speed for a few minutes.
Finally, mix together in a separate bowl the remainder of the buttermilk, the sour cream, vanilla, and eggs. With the mixer on medium low, slowly add in the egg mixture and whip for another minute on medium.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to be sure the butter is completely incorporated.
Butter and flour 2 8-inch cake pans, and divide the batter equally between them.
Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few soft crumbs. The cakes should be pale in color with lightly browned edges.
Set aside to cool, and after roughly 10 minutes turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely while we make the frosting.
For the frosting, melt the chocolate and honey together over a pot of simmering water (or in a microwave in 30 second increments). Once melted, set aside and in another heat proof bowl combine the sour cream and vanilla. Warm over the pot of water…or in a microwave.
Whisk together the chocolate and warm vanilla sour cream.
In a large mixing bowl whip together the butter and sour cream until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix until the texture resembles a nice cream cheese frosting. Add the chocolate sour cream mixture, and mix until everything is whipped and nicely incorporated.
Set the frosting in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until it becomes firm enough to spread.
Back to the cake!
Once the cakes are completely cool, and I do mean completely, use a long serrated knife to cut the cakes in half for a 4-layer cake.
Do you need to do this? No. Should you try? Yes, no one ever hated a cake because it looked kind of off or the layers broke. The more you practice this, the better you will get. It will still taste incredible.
If you’re not feeling daring, just cut off the top domes of the cake so that we can soak in the amaretto.
**Using a pastry brush, soak a few tablespoons of the amaretto into each cut cake layer.
Now, we assemble.
Starting with the first cake layer, spread about 1/2 cup of our frosting on the top, and continue until the final layer is added.
When all 4 layers are stacked, spread a thin layer of the frosting over the tops and sides. Set into the refrigerator again to firm up before we really get fancy.
Finally, use the rest of the frosting to pipe, swoop, scoop, or dollop around the entirety of the cake.
However you do this, just know that to everyone you’re about to serve, you’re a hero.
I like to decorate my cakes with a hint of what flavors are inside, so almond slices and crumbled amaretti cookies were a must.
You do you! You like sprinkles? Hit it with some sprinks!
You like gummy worms? I strongly disagree, but go for it!
Fancy dragées and flowers? Lovely!
Basically, cake makes people happy, and I hope this cake making does the same.
Note **If you do not want to put alcohol in your cake, make a simple syrup of boiled equal parts sugar and water. Flavor with almond extract if you like, or vanilla, or anything else you can think of!