Happy Tuesday! I’m so grateful to have had such a fun weekend celebrating a friend’s birthday and making him a cake!
This cake was inspired by his favorite ice cream, cake batter with graham cracker and raspberry swirls. It gave me the perfect idea for the ultimate birthday cake!
The Ultimate Birthday Cake
Graham cracker cake
Graham cracker cake layers AND a graham crust? I’m telling you now, this cake is going to blow you away! I used my favorite brand of graham cracker crumbs by Keebler. If you can’t find them at the store, you can always make your own graham cracker crumbs by crushing them in a blender until they are like fine sand.
Raspberry filling
For this cake I decided to add a thin layer of raspberry compote to help give it the tartness the cake needs to balance the sweetness of the graham crackers and cake batter. Here is what you need to make the raspberry compote.
- fresh or frozen raspberries
- granulated sugar
- water (divided)
- cornstarch
Cake batter buttercream
This is the part of this recipe that really takes the cake (pun definitely intended). While I was making this, I couldn’t stop eating this buttercream. I actually ended up not having enough to decorate my cake and had to make more! I just wanted to eat it all day long! You’re going to love it!
How to make cake batter buttercream
Since the cake mix has flour in it and it won’t get cooked in the buttercream, it is best to cook it before making this buttercream. I cooked mine at 250 for 15 minutes. But before you put it in the buttercream, make sure it has completely cooled so you don’t melt the butter in the buttercream.
Tips for the buttercream
- Cook the dry cake mix for 15 minutes at 250 degrees.
- Sift the powdered sugar and the cooked cake mix together.
- Use cold butter. I let mine sit out for about 30 minutes.
- Use heavy whipping cream to help smooth the buttercream.
- Scrape the bowl and beat on high for 5 minutes.
- Beat with a wooden spoon after mixing to beat out all of the air pockets.
Tips for making the most perfect cake layers.
- Use fresh ingredients, including fresh baking powder.
- Use high quality cake pans. I have tried many cake pans over the years, and my favorite pans are fat daddios that you can find here:
- Cream your butter and sugar. Don’t just mix, cream them on high for about 5 minutes. This helps incorporate air and makes your cake rise.
- Use room temperature ingredients, unless specified otherwise.
- Don’t over mix your dry ingredients. Low and slow baby!
- Let your oven pre heat for 15-20 minutes to ensure it’s hot and ready.
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