Happy Birthday, Dad!

Moving right along, next up was my Dad's birthday.  Between the end of May and the middle of July, we have 6 birthdays in my immediate family - 3 of which are in my little family alone!

My dad is a no-frills type of person.  It's hard to buy for him, hard to surprise him, hard to impress him, but easy to love him!  There are 2 thing he loves that I always try to incorporate into his birthday - his grandkids and nuts!  What a combination.

This cake was a conglomeration of 2 recipes and my own style.  I had every intention of making this Butterscotch Cake, until I read it and realized I didn't have butterscotch chips and the author didn't speak too highly of the outcome.  Just goes to show you that looks can be deceiving.

I decided on yet another yellow cake recipe and then looked to Annie from Annie's Eats for icing inspiration.  I had bookmarked her Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Filling recipe last fall and decided that was the perfect icing/filling combo.

After making the filling and seeing how much it made, I started to reconsider her frosting.  Time for some alterations.  I wanted the frosting to be more like buttercream or cream cheese frosting, so I went that direction instead.  I've linked to the 2 original cakes but I have to say that my final rendition was pretty darn delicious!  Since I had just finished Granny's cake a week prior, it was easy to compare and I have to say this one won in my book.

Butterscotch Cake
adapted from Annie's Eats & Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Old-Fashioned Yellow Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 + 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans.
2. In a large mixing bowl sift flour and sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add butter, milk and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.
4. Add eggs, beat for 2 more minutes.
5. Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally among both. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Turn out and cool thoroughly on wire racks. Frost with cream cheese or whip cream frosting. If using whip cream frosting the cake must be refrigerated.

Butterscotch Filling:

¾ cup heavy cream

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp. lemon juice

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 – 1 oz. pieces

To make the filling, heat the cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat until hot (do not allow to boil or simmer).  Combine sugar and lemon juice in a separate saucepan and stir with a whisk to combine (the sugar will resemble moist sand).  Caramelize the sugar for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk to break up any lumps.  Remove the saucepan from the heat.  Add the hot cream, one half at a time (be sure you are stirring as you're adding or the caramel will harden).  Add the butter, one piece at a time, stirring to incorporate completely before adding the next piece.  Cool in the refrigerator 45 minutes.  Place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 2 minutes, until light (but not fluffy).  Set aside.

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting:

2-3 cups powdered sugar, depending on your desired level of sweetness

6 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened

5 T. butter, softened

1/2 - 1 cup leftover filling

Begin assembling the cake by spreading the filling in between the 2 cake layers, leaving 1/2 -1 cup for the frosting.  In the same bowl, add the cream cheese and butter and mix until fluffy.  Gradually add the powdered sugar until you reach your desired level of sweetness.  (I never measure so the 2-3 cups was just a guess.)  Frost the entire cake and garnish with LOTS of nuts.  Enjoy!