When I announced with great excitement to my little sister and her friends about the 14-layer adventure, suffice it to say a little mockery ensued with the general idea that 14-layers is absurd and why stop there? After all, I did turn 22 and an equal number of layers only seems appropriate. After doing some quick mental calculations (and receiving a little, much needed discouragement from boyfriend), I decided that 22 layers was too much of an undertaking for the day, possible ever.
Anyways, the result of my endeavor was a spectacular seven pound cake. Absurd? Yes. Delicious? You bet.
Recipe adapted from Oprah and Bakerella.
Cake Ingredients:
4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/2 c. sugar
6 large eggs at room temperature
3 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Frosting Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 box (1 lb) confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3+ Tbsp. milk
Cake Directions:
- Preheat to 375°. Spray cake pans with Pam and line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper (having an extra set of hands aka boyfriend around to do this while you prepare the batter makes the experience much more enjoyable). Shake flour in the pans to lightly cover the bottom and the sides. Tap extra out. (Note: I purchased 14 aluminum 9 inch round pans from Walmart and baked all of the layers at once, but you can bake them in batches as well.)
- Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light in color and texture. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl and be sure the mixture is well-blended. On low speed, add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of the milk, beginning and ending with the flour, and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl often with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla. Using a scant cup for each layer, spread the batter evenly in the pans. It will make a thin layer. (Note: When I filled the pans with batter, it didn't spread to the edges completely evenly despite my many attempts so the layers came out a little bit uneven.)
- Bake the layers until they feel firm when pressed in the centers and are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans, about 12 minutes. (Note: Because I baked all 14 layers at once, I checked the cakes after 6 minutes and rotated them at 9 minutes.)
- Cream the butter and cream cheese with a mixer.
- Add the cocoa and vanilla.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar in small batches and blend on low until combined. Scrape down sides with each addition.
- Add 3 Tbsp of milk and increase it 1 Tbsp at a time until you get the consistency you desire.
- Frost cake with a relatively thin layer between the pieces of cake. Use remaining frosting to thickly cover the outside and top of cake, filling in any gaps. (Note: Because the layers of my cake were uneven, I tried to fill in the gaps with frosting. Another unfortunate side effect - my cake began to lean, so after assembling all the layers of the cake, I inserted two skewers to hold it together. Also, in the future I would use more frosting in between layers - I was conservative for fear of running out of frosting.)
