How modern am I? I crowd-sourced my birthday cake. It’s true, it’s my birthday and I’m celebrating with a tiny layer cake and a killer giveaway courtesy of Foodzie!
Earlier this week, I asked people on my Facebook page and on Twitter what their favorite birthday cake was. It was a lively discussion for sure, so I decided to put it to a vote. The suggestions ranged from black forest and German chocolate (two of my least favorites-sorry kids) to white cake with buttercream (yum) and the winner at Flour Girl’s suggestion Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache. I think it had something like 35 votes!
Of course, it’s my birthday, so I get to switch things up a bit, I’ve gone with a light vanilla sponge cake, layers of salted caramel, one thin layer of rich chocolate ganache, and lots of salty sweet Swiss meringue buttercream.
I woke up this morning and ate a piece of my little cakelet for breakfast. Hey, I’m the birthday girl, and that’s how I roll. This cake was a lot of work, and if I want it at 6am, I shall have it at 6am! It’s a lot of effort, but I would say it’s well worth it. And speaking of effort, the recipes were not my own, so I’ll give credit where credit is due and link to the folks who created them below.
Recipes.
The sponge cake came from this recipe from epicurious:
(it’s only the cake portion)I baked it on an 11×17 baking sheet allowed it to cool completely and cut into 4.5 inch circles with little ring molds. It took 15 minutes to bake, though, not the 10-11 they suggested, but it is one of the tastiest cakes EVER!
The Swiss meringue buttercream is Martha Stewart’s. I halved the recipe, I used 2 tablespoons of vanilla, and replaced one stick of unsalted butter with salted for a salted caramel feel.
I don’t really use a recipe for caramel, I make it so often (can you say junkie?), but the best tutorial in the whole world exists right here. Thanks, David Liebovitz!
But, for the record, I basically use 1 cup of sugar, ½ cup of warm cream, and 2 tablespoons butter with about a half a tablespoon of fleur du sel and do the dry caramel method.
If you want to check out my methodology, you can see several of my caramels below:
Warm cashew cookies with salted caramel drizzle
Sopapillas with Vegan Caramel
Brown Sugar Lemon Cake with Rosemary Caramel
Pear and Gorgonzola Puff Pastry with Riesling Caramel
And for the ganache…
I melted four ounces of 61% cocoa chocolate over a double boiler and removed from heat then whisked in 1 tablespoon salted butter. I only used about one tablespoon of ganache, BUT… it’s nice to have around the house.
To assemble the cake…
First place down one layer of cake, then a thick layer of salted caramel (about two tablespoons), then another layer of cake with a BIG layer of buttercream, then a layer of cake with thin layer of ganache, then a layer cake with another two tablespoons of caramel with a thin layer of buttercream, then cake.
Then I frosted the whole cake with Swiss meringue buttercream and drizzled with chocolate and salted caramel and ganache. I refrigerated the whole cake overnight. I loved how the caramel was super chewy and the chocolate was crisp. A perfect breakfast! Oh my.
About that giveway. Foodzie is giving away one of their amazing tasting boxes.
You have three chances to enter the giveway
1. Join my facebook page & post a message to your wall letting your friends know about this giveaway. THEN leave a comment on this blog letting me know you’ve done so
2. Follow me on twitter & tweet bout this giveaway with the URL. THEN leave a comment on this blog letting me know you’ve done so
3. Join foodzie’s facebook page & post a message to your wall letting your friends know about this giveaway. THEN leave a comment on this blog letting me know you’ve done so
Make sure to leave a SEPARATE COMMENT for each activity to have the most chances to win. If you already follow me or foodzie on Facebook or on Twitter, no problem. Just post/tweet about the giveaway and enter your comment on this blog.
Good luck. The winner will be chosen by random number generator and will be announced on August 12th!
YUMMMMMMY. What a fabo birthday gift to yourself @thetomatotart Happy birthday, Sabrina! 🙂
Glad to see you got your caramel mojo back. =) Happy Birthday!
I posted on FB and Twitter because I love you!
yumm! I have done this! my twitter name is romenag and my Facebook is romena ghebrial ibrahim!
Yummy! I joined the Facebook page and recommended it to my friends–with no hesitation!
Facebook name: sarahemc2
Thanks!
Wow!!!!! You are the The Gourmet Goddess in my book…..this could easily be MY new favorite cake!!! Wish I had the time to make it….looks incredilicious!!!!!!
Oh my Goodness! This could be the perfect cake to bake for my son's 22nd birthday! I am drooling already!
Happy, Happy Birthday to you!!!!! 🙂
Hey guess what? I just tried them a while ago, the only change that I have made was, adding some nuts on the top just to make a difference. It's rich and gooey, a little slice is all you'll need! Try this,it's worth it and I'm pretty sure that you will love it!
You already made this? Oh my goodness?
hAPPY bIRTHDAY! you sure know how to celebrate! Can I call on you when it is my birthday? This looks truly fabulous!
Just found you through foodzie. Am leaving a facebook post. Please enter me.
Also joined foodzie and posted so hoping for a second chance to win. Love the salted caramel cake!
Again, happiest of birthdays to you. And what a fabulous way to celebrate! This cake looks AMAZING. Bravo, as usual. Hope all the moving/unpacking is going well!
Posted a tweet!
Shared on my FB page and liked Foodzie
Happy birthday! What a yummy looking cake! My birthday is right around the corner too. Hm…what should I make for myself… :-p
I'm following you on Twitter and tweeted about the giveaway: http://twitter.com/#!/KitchAdventures/status/1006…
Happy birthday! Just tweeted!
I tweeted your post!
I shared your link on FB!
I am followng foodzie on fb
I tweeted
Followed you on fb and posted
Tweeted
Shared on FB
i posted about this giveaway on my facebook, and i'm a facebook fan!
jpinnick86 (at) gmail (dot) com
i posted about this giveaway on my facebook and i am a foodzie facebook fan!
jpinnick86 (at) gmail (dot) com
i am a twitter follower (whmsicalcupcake) and i tweeted about this giveaway using your retweet button!!
jpinnick86 (at) gmail (dot) com
Looks delicious – and Happy Birthday! Tweeted the contest on twitter.
I retweeted your giveaway!
I tweeted it up lady!
I follow you on twitter and I tweeted! 🙂 https://twitter.com/#!/chocandcarrots/status/1016…
Happy happy birthday!! You are as sweet as your birthday cake!! Here's wishing you lots and lots more to come.
Already FB & Twitter friends.
Liked Foodzie on FB.
Posted about contest on FB & Twitter
Already FB & Twitter friends.
Posted link to contest on Twitter
Posted link to contest on Facebook
Liked Foodzie on Facebook
Happy Birthday Sabrina! Here's to more birthdays (and cakes, too!)
That cake looks amazing!!
I tweeted the giveaway here: http://twitter.com/#!/PurpleLarkspur/status/10202…
larkspurpurple (at) gmail.com
Happy Birthday (a few days too late). Did you know you share your birthday with someone else? Yes, of course there's the president, but there's also my in-laws! And I meant that in the plural sense. My husband's parent's have the same birthday, August 4. They were born exactly one year apart. I bet that's an unusual trait for married couples. Anyway, sorry I missed your birthday and hope you had a GREAT one! I love the idea of eating birthday cake for breakfast. I might have to start that tradition myself!
My friend made a sheet cake version of this for my birthday party. Hells yeah, I am loved!
Now that's a birthday cake, a beauty!