Suckered by Pinterest
I was suckered by Pinterest...again!
A baker, a trusted baker, said she'd found the perfect white cake recipe; she promised I'd never have to look again. It was her own recipe, one she had adapted from a well-known source, that she promised she had made much better. With that kind of hype, and her trusted status to back her up, I copied the recipe off and lip-smacked my way through making a promise a reality.
Meh.
I will not be using that recipe again.
But.....not all was lost.
I did a little adapting of my own, doncha know.
I took the blah cake and made it my bitch. (whoa. language, granny!)
~ A gentle reminder: OMT! uses Amazon referral links. When you do your shopping through the Amazon links on this page, you support the blog at no cost to yourself. It’s much appreciated!~
First, I decided to super-charge the filling, so I used Nestle La Lechera Caramel Sauce:
image source: Amazon
I live in South Texas and this product is plentiful, but from what I understand it may be a regional item. You will have to trust me (oh, the irony) that it is worth the $5 that Amazon sells it for if you can't find it on your grocer's shelf; ORDER HERE. FYI: If I could no longer get this product, I would buy it from Amazon. Yes, I love it that much.
* A reminder: OMT! uses Amazon referral links. When you do your shopping through the Amazon links on this page, you support the blog at no cost to yourself. Just click on the Amazon link, then shop as usual. It’s much appreciated!
#1) Fill my meh cake with caramel:
Here's a quick tutorial ( it's, um, a ridiculous video...but helpful!):
#2) Frosted my cake with a salted vanilla buttercream frosting (recipe at end of post), chilled for 10 minutes, drizzled with the remaining caramel and then ran my frosting spatula through it to marble. As the very last step, I sprinkled the top of the cake with a medium grind of sea salt, to offset the caramel sweetness.
#3) Took pic after pic after pic to show you the yumminess:
And more:
Need I say it:
YUM!
Promised recipe (I typically use recipes as a guideline, so if you need exact measurements for your frosting, this is not the place to be!):
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 5-6 cups sifted confectioners sugar (depending on if you desire a thinner or thicker frosting)
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3-5 tablespoons heavy cream (depending on if you desire a thinner or thicker frosting)
- 1 can Dolche De Leche (caramel)
Instructions
- Beat butter with a mixer until it reaches a creamy consistency.
- Add vanilla and salt and mix well.
- Add sugar, on low speed, in 1 cup increments, while alternately adding 1 tablespoon of cream, at a time, as necessary.
- Mix until fluffy.
- Use approx. ½-2/3rds of canned caramel as cake filling.
- Frost cake, then refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Once frosting/cake is thoroughly chilled, drizzle remaining caramel over cake and spread in a marbleized pattern.
The cake itself was a disappointment; the salted vanilla frosting, not so much.
Come on, I can't be the only one sucked in by a beautiful Pinterest photo only to be disappointed with my result. Gotta story you'd like to share?
I have learned thru the 6 yrs of blogging that a lot of recipes are LOVED in some parts of the country but maybe not so much, in others. What tastes great to someone in New York is so different than what we eat in West Texas, that I don't care for the recipe. MOST of the time, I can read the recipe and decide if we might or might NOT like it....but, not always. 🙁
I agree, but a white cake recipe seems pretty universal. Wait. They eat cake in New York, right?! Ha!
That cake looks outrageously delicious and i can't wait to try it! Thanks for the buttercream recipe, and for the tutorial... piping the egde to prevent the caramel from dripping is a great idea.
Glad to help. Enjoy!
This looks insanely good!! I love how you didn't give up and made that cake work for you. You go girl!!
Listen, when there is cake involved, I'll go the longest yard to get it right!
This title really grabbed my attention. The cake looks scrumtious. Great save!
Ha! It's the truth!
Why buy Dulce de Leche already made in a can (and for an eye-popping five dollars?!) when you can buy a can of sweetened condensed milk and boil it yourself?
Convenience! Plus, I have so many other things to do. AND, when I want caramel out of a can...BOOM! already there!
OMG! That looks awesome. I'm pinning it to my must try board.
That frosting...O.M.GOSH! Thanks for the pin!
Oh my goodness!!! Mmmmmm that looks sooooo good! Ok, now I am having a after midnight snack attack thanks to that more than yummy looking cake!!
There's still caramel in the fridge. If you were here....
That looks delicious! Thanks for sharing it at Monday Funday!
You're welcome!
YUM! My SIL and I were discussing tonight how her recipes never look like pinterest. I told her about photo styling and how most of that stuff gets tossed, because it's been so messed with.
This sounds DELICIOUS. Gotta love South Texas and it's yumminess 🙂
I'm still suckered by Pinterest and love it!
SO glad your version turned out... it looks amazing. This recipe will be featured tomorrow at the tasteful Tuesday party at nap-timecreations... come by and check it out. I would love for you to put my featured button at the bottom of this post :o)
ps, do you have a page where you list the parties you link up to? Would love to see a link back to Tasteful Tuesdays!
Well, the cake not so much. The frosting definitely. Thanks for coming by and I'll pop in!