Buttermilk Dulce de Leche Birthday Cake

If you never tried the magic that is a vanilla cake filled with dulce de leche, you're in for a treat! To top it off, we added praline and a gorgeous chocolate frosting.

Growing up, all birthday cakes had dulce de leche in the middle. Though the layers usually came from a box, having this wonderful milk jam so readily available, solved the eternal what-should-I-fill-the-cake-with question. Though it made all cakes pretty much the same.

My craftiness with cakes is limited, mainly due to my almost lack of patience when it comes to perfectly even layers and piping bags. So there's usually one layer of filling, enough frosting to even out imperfections, a rustic look courtesy

That said, it's the flavors that make the cake. So I actually like rustic endings, because there's never so much anticipation as with unbelievably perfect decorated cakes whose flavors don't quite measure up.

Though how would I know, right? haha

Making praline

This is a caramel based preparation that starts with sugar in the stove. Nuts are added after the caramel is a deep amber color, and it's later chopped to use as a coarse powder or brittle. 

You can certainly buy something similar or chop up some toffee and make your life easier. 

Here, you get what you see.

Tender vanilla buttermilk layers with a hefty dose of dulce de leche and an even heftier dose of double chocolate cream cheese frosting.

All with a good amount of hazelnut praline.

Man, it's good. A really good cake.

For a birthday, or just because.

It can even be made in stages since the layers can be wrapped up for a few days, and the frosting kept in the fridge.

What's your favorite layer cake?

I almost made dark chocolate layers, but in the end, choose some contrasting colors. Buttermilk is the ingredient of choice for this month's Chocolate Party, the group started by Roxana of Roxana's Home Baking.

Last month it was caramel, remember the salted caramel millionaire's graham cracker bars? Or the triple chocolate clusters the month before? You get the idea. We like chocolate. A lot.

This cake went over to a friend's house, sans one slice. She also got the strawberry cinnamon swirl bread, the olive sables, the cherry bundt cake, the raspberry almond loaf, and some amazing caramel congo bars that I am posting on Monday over at Hip Foodie Mom.

I usually give her most baked goodies, and it turns out she takes some over to other friends' houses. So now, her friends expect homemade baked things from her.

And they know I'm the one who makes them, and they certainly don't mind that they're never whole, always missing the part which was needed for the pictures.

Let me know in the comments below if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it. Thank you for being here, I appreciate it! Let’s connect via Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

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Buttermilk Dulce de Leche Birthday Cake

• Author: Paula Montenegro
• Prep Time: 30
• Cook Time: 40
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: Cakes
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: International

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Description

This is a magic flavor combination. Components can be made in advance.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

For the buttermilk cake:

• 1 ¾ cups (200g) all-purpose or cake flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5.5 oz (155g) unsalted butter, room tº
• 1 1/3 cups (260g) sugar
• 3 large eggs (room tº)
• 1 ½ cups dulce de leche

For the hazelnut praline:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup hazelnuts (toasted and skinned)

For the chocolate frosting:

• 5 oz milk chocolate
• 9 oz bittersweet chocolate
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup cream cheese (room tº)

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Instructions

For the buttermilk cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF / 180ºC. Butter and flour or spray a 9inch (24cm) round springform cake pan.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Reserve. Mix buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl or glass cup.
3. In a large bowl beat butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add sugar, and beat for 4 or 5 minutes, until very light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth between additions. Beat for 1 minute after adding the third egg.
5. Add dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with liquids in two additions. Don't beat this too much, it should only be mixed until well blended. Over beating will make the cake tough.
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for for 40 to 45 minutes, until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Let cool on wire rack for 15 minutes and inverto onto a rack and let cool completely before filling and frosting.
8. Cut the cake in half, trying to cut it as even as possible. To achieve this, start by using a large thin knife, and cut while rotating the cake. With each turn, the knife should go deeper, until you reach the center. At that point the cake will be completely cut in half.
9. Spread dulce de leche on top of one half, spreading evenly but without touching half an inch from the edge. (That way, when you press the second layer on top, the dulce de leche will reach the edges but not spill).
10. Add half of praline on top of dulce de leche. Top with the other cake layer, press lightly and frost with chocolate frosting.
11. The best way to frost is to take about half the frosting and make one layer covering the whole cake. Then take the rest of the frosting, and even it out as best as you can.
12. Sprinkle remaining praline on top and serve.

For the hazelnut praline:

1. Melt sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir a few times as it starts to melt.
2. It will clump at first. Then it will start turning golden, at which point stir it some more to prevent it from burning in spots.
3. Finally the whole of the sugar will melt and the liquid will be a deep amber color. Be very careful because it goes from deep golden to burnt just like that.
4. Immediately add hazelnuts, stir to coat all of them in the caramel and dump onto a silpat or oiled surface, such as marble or baking tray. Let cool.
5. Try to break praline as much as you can. Then place between two sheets of waxed paper, and with a rolling pin, break into small pieces.
6. Transfer these pieces to the food processor and process until finely ground. Some larger pieces will remain.

For the chocolate frosting:

1. Melt both chocolates on top of a double boiler or in the microwave. Be careful not to burn it.
2. Let cool until lukewarm, then add to the room tº cream cheese.
3. Add the salt and beat with an electric mixer until very smooth and shiny.

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Keywords: buttermilk cake

Cake layers from Baking for all Occasions, by Flo Braker; frosting adapted from Cakes, by Maida Heatter

Paula Montenegro

I'm Paula, a baker for more than 30 years and your designated recipe finder, sharing the best ones on this blog, with simple ingredients + easy-to-follow instructions.