Smith Island Cake

The long awaited recipe is here! Here is the cake I made for my sister for her birthday a few weeks ago. I got it from Cook's Country magazine that came in the mail. The big secret is baking the layers.... you bake them separate so you don't have to cut the layers. It works like a charm! However the cake is suppose to be eight layers but mine only ended up being six. I'm not sure why that happened but my layers ended up being a little thicker I think (I used the suggested 2/3 cup per layer).

For the yellow cake you can use whatever recipe you like. You'll need about 5 1/3 cups of batter. I looked up the recipe that they used in the magazine and it was delicious. Now for the frosting...

10 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, softened

Place chocolate in large bowl. Heat cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture dissolves and mixture begins to simmer. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla and butter until glossy. Cover and refrigerate until icing is firm but still spreadable. About an hour.

After your layers have cooled you can assemble the cake layer by layer with about 1/4 cup of frosting for each layer. Then use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake. I found that the longer the frosting sat out the harder it was to work with so work fast. Also for easier spreading on the outside dip your palette or knife in hot water and wipe dry between spreads. For the flowers I made on top I just melted white chocolate chips and put them in a baggie and cut a hole in the corner. I did a lot of it straight on the cake and then made flowers on wax paper to add on top and use for serving each piece after it was cut. Happy Birthday Nae! You are a gem :)