Cake or Death

Michael and I love Eddie Izzard. He is a comedian that does a whole bit on being offered cake or death. So when Michael and I have cake we always say Cake or Death. Michael would club people down I think to have this cake. It is his favorite and I made it for his birthday in December.

It is kind of my creation because Michael enjoys maple flavoring so I modified a basic cake recipe to make into a Maple Butterscotch Cake. The frosting on this probably makes the cake. Sorry the picture is so bad - all of them that I took of it were fuzzy. But trust me the cake is amazingly wonderful!



Maple Butterscotch Cake

Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or cake flour*)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Frosting:
1/3 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon maple extract


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan.

For the cake cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl at least once. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add the extracts and mix to combine.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. And then add to the butter mixture alternately with the milk.

Pour the batter into the pan, spread it out evenly and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch and a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes.

For the frosting put the butterscotch chips and half of the butter in a heatproof bowl, and melt together over low heat or at low power in the microwave. Stir until smooth; if it looks a little broken, that's okay.

Put the other half of the butter in a mixing bowl with half of the confectioners' sugar. Mix until smooth and then add the melted chip mixture. Add the rest of the sugar and beat again until you have a smooth frosting. Mix in the extract. Add the milk if necessary to make the frosting a spreadable consistency - I find I always need to add it. Spread the frosting evenly over cake. Serve.

* Cake Flour gives it just a little bit different texture to me - probably better but I usually don't have cake flour around. Though you can google on how to "make" your own cake flour with cornstarch and all-purpose flour.