COTTON CANDY CAKE

It all starts with the pastel cotton candy container that I saw at the check out line at Homesense. I don't know exactly what I will do with it, or how I will turn it into a cake exactly, but the color is so pretty that I have to have it. Impulsive purchases are carried out.

Come to think of it, I've done a lot of impulsive purchases in that line. The checkout aisle is always full and the line moves with glacial speed (best), so I'm not completely surprised. Obviously Homesense knows what they are doing. I want to know how many people go with cotton candy that they don't need that day?

INGREDIENTS

Cotton Candy Cake:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp cotton candy flavoring
• 1 cup whole milk room temperature
• fuchsia color gel
• sky blue color gel
• violet color gel

Cotton Candy Buttercream:

• 6 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 tsp cotton candy flavoring

Assembly:

• fuchsia color gel
• sky blue color gel
• violet color gel
• cotton candy

INSTRUCTIONS

Cotton Candy Cake:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6 "cake rounds and line with parchment.

In medium medium bowl, flour whisk, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add cotton candy flavoring and mix well.

Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.

Separate batter into four bowls (I use a kitchen scale). Color 3 of the bowls of batters with fucshia, sky blue, and violet gels respectively. Spoon batter randomly into each of the 3 pans, swirl twice with a bamboo skewer to marble.

Bake for approx. 35mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack.

Cotton Candy Buttercream:

A whisk until combined place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer *

Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no 
longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins). Or registers 160F on a candy thermometer.

The place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).

Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth. **

Add flavoring and whip cotton candy until smooth.

Assembly:

Place one layer of cake stand or serving plate. Top with approximately 2/3 cup of buttercream. Repeat with remaining layers and crumb coat the cake. Chill for 20mins.

Frost the top and sides of the cake and smooth with a bench scraper.

Divide the remaining frosting into 4. Leave one batch of white and color the remaining three fuschia, sky blue, and violet.

Doing one time at a time - scrape a bit of colored frosting onto the back of a small offset spatula and spike this onto the cake in a random pattern. Repeat with other colors until they are evenly, but roughly, dispersed.

Run your bench scraper along the sides of the cake again to smooth out the newly added colored frosting. Repeat as needed, adding more color or patching with white.

Do a pearl border along with the top and bottom using a small round piping tip with the remainder of the white buttercream.

Add cotton candy to the top if desired. ***

Subscribe to receive free email updates: