Birthday Cake

Birthday cake for my own birthday.  And no, I didn't HAVE to make my own birthday cake, I wanted to!

I was on the search for a new and interesting cake to make for our Memorial Day weekend/birthday BBQ.  I recently stumbled on the blog BrownEyedBaker while looking for a recipe for a homemade moon pie (but that's a different post altogether.)  On the morning of my birthday, I happened to click on her site and the cake she had posted that very morning looked amazing.  It seemed like kismet!  I mean, she had posted this amazing looking and sounding cake on my very birthday, right?  So, of course I decided to make it.

The cake was a Root Beer Float Cake and it ended up being as amazing as it looked.  I love root beer floats and hardly ever get a chance to have one.  And the vanilla ice cream along with the cake really brought out the root beer flavor.  I got great compliments on it and I would definitely make it again.  I think I'd like to try maybe using Cherry Coke, too!

I made a few changes when I made the cake.  For one, I used Splenda for baking in the recipe. I also made a two layer cake instead of a bundt cake.  Bundt cakes are okay, but I prefer a layer cake when there is frosting involved.  Luckily, the recipe adapted well for a two layer cake.  And I thought that I might have to make more frosting, but it ended up being the perfect amount.

Root Beer Float Cake

2 cups root beer (NOT diet, even though you might be tempted!)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup (4 ounces) butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1¼ cups granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Spray the inside of two 9 inch cake pans with non stick baking spray and set aside.  In a medium saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the white and brown sugar and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.  In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and add a small amount of the cooled cocoa mixture to temper the eggs.  Add the eggs and cocoa back into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.  Slightly lumpy batter is okay.

Pour the batter into the cake pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a small sharp knife or a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn the cakes onto the rack to cool completely.

While the cakes cool, it's time to make the root beer frosting!

Root Beer Fudge Frosting

Put all of the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the ingredients are well blended and frosting is shiny (you may need to scrape the sides of the food processor a couple of times.) I've never made frosting in a food processor before, but this method worked wonderfully!  If you don't have one, throwing all the ingredients in a bowl and using a mixer will work just fine.  Spread  the frosting over the first layer, place the second layer and finish icing the cake. Let the frosting set before serving. 

Enjoy!  This was easy to make and gone in a flash!

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