Holiday Baking Month: Crunchy Golden Wreath Cake
Prep: 20 minutes Bake: 20-25 minutes + cooling Decorating: 30 minutes
Happy Holidays! This is the first of the posts dedicated to one of my favorite activities: baking. I’m hoping to make a lot of things up as I go and so with this one we have a homemade gold/butter cake, butter cream and almond caramel for a crunch surprise with some more fun for decorating. Let’s jump into this.
Ingredients
Cake
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup softened butter
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Red food coloring
Buttercream Icing
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup softened butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
~2 tbls milk maybe more
Green food coloring
Crunchy center
1/2 -1 cup smashed almonds
1 jar caramel topping spread (important that it’s spreadable)
Prep
Cake
Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C)
In a large enough bowl add the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix it around
In another bowl, add the butter and sugar and mix it well. This should end up crumbly
Add the eggs and beat until it’s smoothing out
Add the vanilla and repeat
Add the milk and make a smooth, creamy batter
Add the flour mixture and finish off this mixture into full on cake batter
Add the food coloring a few drops at a time until you get to the shade you’d like.
Take two 9 inch circle baking pans and spray with non stick spray
To make the wreath shape I used 2 small ramkins with a touch of water in them and poured the batter around (even amounts in each). You want any oven safe round object that you have 2 of or just cut out the center afterwards.
Bake for 20-25 minutes
Let cool completely before icing
Icing
To make the icing add the powdered sugar and butter to a bowl
Use a hand mixer if you have it and mix this with a whisk on a low setting. It will get a weird crumble texture
Add in the vanilla and 1 tbls of milk and mix
Keep mixing to see how it turns and if too dry add more milk, if too thin, add more powdered sugar
When you’re happy with it, add the food coloring a couple drops at a time until happy with the shade
Caramel Almond
To make the inside layer, add the almonds to a bowl and pour the caramel on top. Mix it well
Assemble
Decide which of the two cake parts will be the bottom and use a knife or cake cutter to flatten the top
Spread the almond mixture on top
Add the next layer
Ice the cake
Take a spoon and press lightly at an angle to make textures to simulate the leaves and texture of the wreath
I added cinnamon sticks to make the sticks and used cookie icing to try and draw holly on to give a more wreath look
Afterthoughts
This tasted so decadent I loved it. Butter cakes are such a special take. The almond caramel gave a great sweetness to a more savory taste with all the butter. This was so good. I wasn’t as happy with my decorations but I am happy that I’m learning patience and moving forward with it. I am so happy about this cake. It is a fun cake to serve that will bring smiles. The soft cake with the crunch is a great contrast though the caramel did eventually melt into the cake.
