Hubby had a birthday last week, so of course there was a cake. When thinking of what to make, I was reminded of his favourite school dinner dessert. Butterscotch tart with pink custard. The custard was vanilla and nobody to this day knows why it was pink, but the pinkness of the custard is a vital component of the memory. So pink custard he shall have!
For the butterscotch, I opted for a silky butterscotch buttercream made with brown sugar and butterscotch sauce. The sauce was homemade (so easy!) and used to drizzle on the top as well.
Finally, I used a vanilla cake so as to not overpower either the custard or the light butterscotch flavour of the frosting. This recipe is adapted from Tessa Huff's Best Butter Cake recipe from stylesweet.com. I used vanilla bean paste which gave it a wonderful flavour and added the tiny black flecks of vanilla bean throughout. I especially liked that this recipe uses whole eggs rather than just egg whites, like the vanilla cake in my Vanilla Whisky Cake recipe, but in that case the yolks can go into the frosting.
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Happy baking!
BUTTERSCOTCH BIRTHDAY CAKE
makes 2 mini-cakes
THE CAKE
¾ cup (110g) flour, sifted, spooned and levelled
2 teaspoons cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup (100g) white sugar
1 egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons sour cream at room temperature
¼ cup whole milk at room temperature
Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Grease one 8" round cake pan and line bottom with baking paper.
Whisk flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
Beat butter on medium-high until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. Add sugar and cream together for 2-3 minutes on high speed.
Add egg and continue to beat on high, occasionally stopping to scrape sides, until fully blended. Add vanilla and mix well.
Mix milk and sour cream together. Add dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with milk/sour cream, mixing on low-medium until just incorporated. Scrape sides once and mix again for no more than 30 seconds.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool fully. Remove baking paper.
BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup heavy or whipping cream
⅛ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar cream and salt and whisk well. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Carefully (it’s hot!) taste and add more salt and vanilla to suit. Store in a sealed container in fridge for up to 2 weeks.
BUTTERSCOTCH BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
2 large egg whites
¼ cup (55g) brown sugar
Pinch of salt
¾ cup (170g) butter at room temperature
¼ cup butterscotch sauce
In a heat proof bowl, the bowl of your stand mixer or top of a double boiler, whisk together egg whites, brown sugar and salt. Place over a bowl of quietly simmering water and heat, occasionally stirring until mixture reaches 160F on a candy thermometer.
Remove from heat and beat on medium-high, with whisk attachment if you have it, for 8-10 minutes. Result should be a fluffy meringue that holds medium-stiff peaks and has returned to room temperature.
Switch to paddle attachment. Add butter, one small chunk at a time, allowing each to fully incorporate. Once the butter is all added mix at medium-high for 3-5 minutes. Add butterscotch sauce then mix on low until incorporated and buttercream appears smooth.
ASSEMBLY
Place cake on a cutting board and create mini-cake layers by cutting 4 circles. Depending on the size of your cutter, you will need to go quite close to the edge to get the four. If your cake hasn't baked flat, use a bread knife to level the tops of the layers. (If it is tall enough, you can cut the layers horizontally to make a 4-layer cake like mine.) Keep the offcuts handy to eat with extra butterscotch sauce!
Place one layer, bottom side down, on serving plate. Pipe a frosting dam around the top edge and fill with custard (mine is pink coloured to match my husband’s school day memories, but you can leave au naturel if you prefer). Alternatively, just fill with the butterscotch frosting (you should have lots). Top with a second layer, bottom-side up. Repeat with other two layers to make a second cake.
Crumb coat with a thin layer of buttercream and place in fridge for 15 minutes. Frost with a thicker layer of buttercream. Chill again and then drizzle with butterscotch sauce.
Store in fridge, but serve at room temperature.
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