5 stars (based on 2 reviews)
The perfect cake for summer
Kids will love it
Adults may love it more
Recipe
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Prep Time: 25 min
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 40 grams sour cream
- 1/4 cup neutral oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup AP flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp espresso powder
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup neutral oil
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup buttermilk, room temp
- 1/4 cup sour cream (*see note)
- 1 tbsp hot coffee
- One small pack yellow fondant
- One small pack orange fondant
- Green food gel
- Red food gel
- Brown food gel
- Sesame seeds
- 3 sticks unsalted butter
- 4 1/2 -5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- Vanilla cake: when beating your sugar and butter, you want to find the right balance of whipping for no more than about 2-3 minutes. You want the mixture to be light and fluffy, but not beaten to death. The mix will still have texture after 2 minutes but will be lighter looking!
- I have come to find that ovens and altitude can make a difference when baking. So while I have bake time listed above, my rule of thumb is pulling out a clean tooth pick (thats how you know the cake is done!) or try pushing the top and if the cake bounces back, you know it is done.
- It may sound strange, but cakes actually taste better after sitting in the freezer. There is something that happens with the moisture and flavor development! Don’t skip this step! The cake layers will taste amazing and frosting will be much easier with cold cakes!
- This cake has a lot of steps and requires quite a bit of tools. We have linked everything above to help you achieve a successful hamburger cake! Please provide feedback, we would love to hear from you!
Bake Time: 50 min
Assembly Time: 90-100 min
Yields: 8-10 slices
What you need
Vanilla Burger Bun Cake
Chocolate Burger Patties
Miscellaneous
Buttercream Frosting
What to do
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Using oil or cooking spray, lightly grease 3 six inch round pans. Using a pencil, trace the bottom of the pans on parchment paper. Cut out the parchment paper and place each circle in a greased pan. For the vanilla cake, sift and then whisk all dry ingredients into a medium size bowl. Set to the side.
2. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat sugar and butter for about 2 minutes on medium speed. We want the mix to be light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix on low until combined (*see note).
3. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Once added, pour in buttermilk and mix (still on low) until everything is combined.
4. Pour the cake batter into two of the greased pans (the other pan will be for the chocolate cake!). Add just a little batter more to one of the pans (this pan will be for the top burger bun). Bake cakes for about 18-20 min (*see note). Start watching cakes at 15 min and try inserting a toothpick to check for doneness. If the pick comes out clean, the cakes are done! Remove and let cool.
5. For the chocolate cake, keep the oven temp set to 350. Sift and then whisk all dry ingredients into a medium size bowl. Set to the side.
6. In another medium size bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla extract. You dont need a mixer, you can just mix by hand. Once the ingredients are fully incorporated, slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing as you pour. Meanwhile, get your hot coffee ready and pour that over the mix and stir until everything is incorporated. DO NOT OVERMIX! Pour batter into the third cake pan and bake for about 25 minutes (*see note). Once the cake is done. Let cool.
7. When the cakes have cooled, take a knife and run it around the edges of the cakes (this helps with removing from the pans later). I then cover my cakes with plastic wrap and then layer with foil and freeze. That’s right! I freeze the cakes in the pans. You can remove the cakes after you have run the knife along the edges and wrap them without the pan. But I am lazy and I just freeze them in the pan. I try to freeze the cake layers for at least 12-24 hours before frosting (*see note).
8. For the buttercream frosting, place butter in a medium size bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until it is fluffy and creamy. Add the other ingredients and continue mixing until you reach desired consistency.
9. For the cheese fondant- I smoosh the yellow and orange fondants together and knead them until I get the desired color and consistency. I found that using 2:1 ratio yellow to orange gives me the right “american” cheese look. Roll out the fondant ball. I achieve this with two pieces of parchment paper on each side of the fondant- and I roll with a rolling pin. Use a pastry cutter or knife to cut several triangles. Place the cheese pieces off to the side to rest until cake assembly.
10. Remove cakes from freezer about 1 hour before you frost. Remove your cakes from their pans. If the chocolate cake has a dome top, shave that top off with a serrated knife. Then take the same knife and slowly cut the cake in half, like you would cut a hoagie roll in half. This part can be a little scary, so go slow! No shame in slow/careful cutting!
11. For the vanilla cakes, set the bigger cake layer off to the side, no cutting required! For the smaller layer, use your serrated knife to trim any dome off the top of the cake! This layer will be the bottom bun layer, so it should sit flat!
12. For the frosting colors, remove about 3/4 of the frosting and place into a separate bowl. Use a few drops of brown food coloring and give the frosting a good mix. Add more color or vanilla (white frosting) to get the right hue. Frost the bottom bun. I like to get the cakes two layers of frosting, so no cake shows through. I also place my cake layer on a cup or plate that has a smaller diameter than the cake itself. That helps when lifting the layer and placing onto a cake drum or plate. To get the cake as smooth as possible, use an offset spatula and bench scraper. This takes some practice, but they work wonders on cake frosting!
13. After the second coat of frosting, place the bottom bun on a cake drum or platter. Place one layer of the chocolate cake on top of the bun. Add three triangles of cheese. Place the next chocolate layer on top of the cheese.
14. For the ketchup, take a tbsp or two of the vanilla (white frosting) and place into a separate bowl. I used a few drops of super red food gel to get the desired ketchup hue. Place the red frosting in a piping bag. Using scissors, cut about an inch off the tip of the bag. Then simply squeeze your bag, and run it around the edges of the chocolate cake, the red frosting will lay right on the edge. You only need to pipe the edge because we want the red to bleed out a bit. If you have some red frosting leftover, then feel free to fill in the middle. 🙂 If you have any cheese pieces leftover, feel free to pile them on top of the ketchup!
15.Take the remaining frosting and add leaf green food gel and mix well. Same as the red food coloring, but place a metal piping tip in the bag and trim off an inch or two off of the tip of the piping bag. Pipe little dots all around the edge of cake on top of the ketchup. Note: Whatever frosting is leftover, feel free to pipe in the middle of the the ketchup and lettuce layer. In fact, the more frosting you add, the higher the top bun sits. This makes for a pretty, grandiose presentation!
16. For the top of the bun, frost it the same as the bottom layer. Gently lay the top bun on top of the lettuce (try to be as symmetrical as possible). Sprinkle the bun with a bunch of sesame seeds. Et Voilà ! Enjoy zee burger!
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