My name is Robin Munn. I live in Arkansas where I am married to my husband Brent and we have two daughters, Krystal and Ryein and two beautiful grand sons, Bryce and Brady! I work as a full time Employment Specialist at our local hospital. My love for cake decorating began several years ago after taking a few Wilton classes and decorating my first cake for my grand baby's birthday, and from there I was hooked. Other than those few classes I am self taught by watching tutorials on you tube and joining cake schools like Sugar Ed and Paul Bradford. Working a full time job makes it very difficult to take on very many cakes a week so I try and limit them to 2 or 3 a week. My dream is to one day have my own Bakery! I love spending my spare time watching cake decorating videos and looking at pictures of cakes!
Apple Spice Cake (makes 1 6" round cake)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter at room temperature
1 egg
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
Preheat oven to 350. Using butter, grease the bottom and sides of a 6" round or springform pan and line the bottom with a piece of round parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Mix well.
In a larger bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat using an electric mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Add in the egg and beat again. Add in the applesauce and mix by hand with a spatula. Gradually add in the flour mixer, mixing by hand until it's incorporated.
Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, using a spatula to evenly spread it out. Bake for 23-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Once the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove from the pan. Allow cake to cool completely on cooling rack. Once cool, remove the parchment paper from bottom of cake. If you need to level the top of the cake, do so now. Make sure the cake is completely cooled, then wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. The cake will keep up to 1 week like this.
Vanilla Bean Buttercream
2 stick butter at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or extract or vanilla bean pods
5-7 cups powdered sugar
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and the shortening, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla paste. Begin to add the powdered sugar about 1-2 cups at a time, mixing by hand at first, then with electric mixer. Continue adding sugar until the frosting tastes good to you.
Caramel Drizzle
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 TBSP. butter, unsalted
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 TBSP. sugar
1 TBSP. light corn syrup
1 TBSP. water
Get the directions from Allie at Baking Moment. Be sure to prepare your caramel sauce in advance because it needs to cool before adding to the cake.
Assembling the Cake:
Spread a small amount of buttercream on a cardboard cake circle. Place one 6" layer on top of cardboard. Place buttercream on top of first layer and spread it as even as possible with a spatula. Decide how much or how little frosting you want between each layer. I use 1/3 - 1/2 cup between each layer.
Repeat this process until all layers are stacked. Ice the outside of the cake, being sure to fill in the pockets between layers. Don't completely cover the layers, as the cake is supposed to be visible. Place the entire cake in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up the buttercream. Drizzle cooled caramel sauce in the middle and around the sides of the cake, allowing it to drip down. For a garnish you may wish to use cinnamon sticks.
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