Something that I enjoy doing is watching a western on TV and it's one of those things that I do with my dad when I'm home on breaks from college. My absolute favorite western to watch is The Virginian. Trampas is my favorite character on this show, the main reason being that I think he's pretty freaking cute. Anyways, watching these westerns gave me the inspiration to make this cowboy cake.
So I had chocolate cake sitting in the freezer and I knew that I had to use it for this cake but it still needed just a little extra something to add some flavor to it. For some reason the idea of chocolate and salted caramel just screamed cowboy to me and I just had to do it!
To decorate this cake I turned to the good old trusty Pinterest and I found the cutest images from the book The Clumsy Cowboy written by Jane Bethell and the images illustrated by Shel and Jan Haber. I couldn't find very many illustrations from this book so I used what I could find and just moved the images around a little to get what I thought worked well. It doesn't say western without the robbers, the sheriff, cowboy boots and hats, and of course the old western buildings. To top it all off you got the cute clumsy cowboy on top riding his horse backwards. It's just too cute!
Eating the cake was even better then actually making it! It was so delicious with the caramel that soaked into the cake and the salted caramel buttercream! Oh my, I couldn't stop eating it. I highly suggest you make this cake. Like right now. Seriously. Do it.
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Chocolate Cake (via Life, Love and Sugar)Makes a 4 layer, 6-inch cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water
Set oven to 300*F. In one bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, oil and eggs and then add to the dry. Mix the boiling water and vanilla and then add to the mixture. Put batter into greased and lined cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until it comes out clean by toothpick. Let cool completely.
Caramel Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
Put the sugar into a small pot and on the stove at medium-high heat. Whisk until the sugar melts and turns to an amber color. Add the butter and whisk until fully combined. Take off of the heat and add in the heavy cream and whisk until fully combined.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
1/4 cup of the caramel sauce
3 sticks butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp heavy cream
Put all of the ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until combined.
Assembly
With each layer of cake (not including the very top layer) poke a few decent sized holes into the cake (I used a straw). Spread a good amount of caramel onto the cake so it soaks into the cake.
Spread a small amount of plain buttercream (I had leftover plain buttercream in the fridge that I used) on top of the caramel. Then finally spread a little more caramel on top of the frosting and then add another layer of cake. Repeat the process with the other 2 layers then add the fourth layer and frost the cake with the salted caramel buttercream.
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