Momofuku Milk Bar Layered Birthday Cake

The Super Bowl demands a touchdown dessert. Which is why I went to my source of reliably impressive recipes: the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. The NYC bakery's desserts are over-the-top sweet, inward a candy-induced, sugar-high sort of way. They're fun too frivolous. Colorful. And brightly-hued desserts ever depict a crowd. (Think nearly it: The sense of savour of Funfetti is almost indistinguishable from white cake, nonetheless the sprinkles arrive infinitely to a greater extent than appealing.)

The ane downfall of Momofuku's desserts is their complexity. Vegetable crude is replaced past times rarely used grapeseed oil; ingredients similar "glucose" or "citric acid" hit repeated appearances. That's why I salve their recipes for exceptional occasions. This time, I decided to conquer the Layered Birthday Cake, which requires baking a cake, baking a cake crumble, mixing a whole milk soak, too preparing frosting. Then putting all of that together. I spent a expert ii or 3 hours on the endeavor. But, man, was it worth it, fifty-fifty though the Super Bowl isn't actually that exciting.

The starting fourth dimension piece I ate, before long afterwards I finished assembling the cake, wasn't that impressive. (My reaction: "Why didn't I exactly hit a layered Funfetti cake?") But afterwards the cake sat overnight (as the directions say you lot to do), too the flavors mingled, it was divine. 

In the words of a friend, "it's thus expert it's almost bad." Bad, because ane piece is non enough, fifty-fifty though it may leave of absence you lot amongst a wearisome saccharide stomachache. The whole milk soak imparts a density that distinguishes Momofuku's creation from boxed cake, too the frosting has a lightness you lot won't abide by inward a tin strength out (even if you lot purchase whipped!). The crumb gives it a delightful, crunchy sweetness, almost similar pieces of saccharide cookie mingled inward to surprise your sense of savour buds.  

Momofuku Milk Bar Layered Birthday Cake

What you lot need

For the cake: 
4 Tbsp butter
1/3 loving cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 Tbsp tightly packed lite dark-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/3 loving cup grapeseed oil*
2 tsp clear vanilla extract (Momofuku uses McCormick brand) 
2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking pulverization
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 loving cup rainbow sprinkles
Nonstick spray

*Grapeseed is best, because it's flavorless. But inward a pinch, canola crude industrial plant exactly fine.

For the soak:
3/4 loving cup whole milk 
1 tsp clear vanilla extract 

For the crumb:
1/2 loving cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp tightly packed lite dark-brown sugar
3/4 loving cup cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 Tbsp rainbow sprinkles
1/4 loving cup grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp clear vanilla extract

For the frosting:
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 loving cup vegetable shortening
2 oz cream cheese
1 Tbsp glucose*
1 Tbsp lite corn syrup
1 Tbsp clear vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp kosher tabular array salt
Pinch of baking powder
Pinch of citric acid (often called "sour salt")**

*You'll belike lead maintain to companionship this online. Or exactly sub inward 2 tsp lite corn syrup.
**You tin strength out role a few drops of lemon juice instead, if quest be. 

  Put it all together

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
2. To hit the cake, combine the butter, shortening, sugar, too dark-brown saccharide inward a stand upwardly mixer; cream on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape downward the sides of the bowl, add together the eggs, too thus mix on medium-high for some other 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape downward the sides again.  
3. On depression speed, gradually mix inward the buttermilk, oil, too vanilla. Increase the speed to medium-high for iv to vi minutes, until the mixture is nearly white, double the size of the master mixture, too completely uniform inward appearance. (There should hold out no obese or liquidy streaks. This tin strength out lead maintain a while, too that's fine.) Scape downward the sides of the bowl.
4. On the lowest speed possible, add together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, too 2 Tbsp rainbow sprinkles. Mix for nearly a minute, exactly until the batter comes together. Scrape downward the sides of the bowl. 
5. Grease a quarter canvass pan (I used a large cookie canvass amongst rimmed edges) too work it amongst parchment paper. Spread the cake batter inward an fifty-fifty layer across the pan, too spread the remaining 2 Tbsp sprinkles evenly over the top. 
6. Bake for xxx to 35 minutes, until the cake has doubled inward size. At xxx minutes, poke the border of the cake amongst your finger. It should bounce dorsum slightly, too the see shouldn't hold out jiggly. If necessary, bake the cake for an additional 3 to five minutes. 
7. Remove the cake from the oven onto a wire rack, too trim the oven temperature to 300°F.
8. To hit the crumb, combine the sugar, dark-brown sugar, baking powder, salt, too sprinkles, too mix on depression speed until thoroughly combined. Add the crude too vanilla, too mix ane time again until little clusters form. 
9. Spread the clusters on a parchment-lined baking sheet, too bake for twenty minutes. Break the clusters upwardly occasionally. Don't worry if they are slightly moist when you lot take away them from the oven. They volition harden equally they cool. Allow to cool completely. 
10. To hit the frosting, mix the butter, shortening, too cream cheese on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, thus the mixture is polish too fluffy. Scrape downward the sides of the bowl.
11. Set the mixer on its lowest speed, too tardily pour inward the glucose, corn syrup, too citric acid. Mix until exactly incorporated, too thus growth the speed to medium-high too shell for 2 to 3 minutes. 
12. To hit the soak, whisk together the milk too vanilla inward a little bowl.
13. Now get together it all: Place a piece of parchment newspaper on the counter, too invert the cake onto the parchment. Use a 6-inch cake ring to postage stamp out two circles from the cake. (I don't lead maintain a cake ring, thus I exactly placed a 6-inch bowl upside downward on the cake too cutting some it amongst a sudden knife.) These are your ii transcend cake layers, too the scraps are what volition hit upwardly your bottom layer.
14. Clean the cake band too house it inward the see of a canvass pan lined amongst parchment. Use a strip of acetate (3 inches wide, twenty inches long) to work the within of the cake ring. (Again, I don't lead maintain a cake band or acetate. My solution: I constructed the bottom of the cake inward a 6-inch skillet, too thus transferred it to a cake stand.) Place the cake scraps inward the ring, using the dorsum of your mitt to flatten the scraps into a smooth, fifty-fifty layer.
15. Dip a pastry brush inward the cake soak, too generously bathe the bottom layer of cake.
16. Using the dorsum of a spoon, spread a 5th of the frosting evenly over the cake, too thus sprinkle a 3rd of the crumb over the frosting. Spread a 2nd 5th of the frosting evenly over the crumb.
17. With your index finger, tuck a 2nd strip of acetate betwixt the cake band too the transcend 1/4 inch of the starting fourth dimension strip of acetate, thus you lot lead maintain a clear band of acetate five to vi inches tall. Set a cake circular on transcend of the frosting, too repeat the procedure for layer one. (No acetate? Just gratuitous mitt it!)
18. Nestle the remaining cake circular into the frosting. Cover amongst the final 5th of frosting, too garnish amongst remaining crumbs. 
19. Transfer the canvass pan to the freezer too freeze for at to the lowest degree 12 hours. (I skipped this. I was dying to seek out the cake.) At to the lowest degree 3 hours prior to serving, take away from the freezer, popular the cake out of the cake ring, tegument off the acetate, too transfer the cake to a platter. Let it defrost inward the refrigerator for at to the lowest degree 3 hours, too thus piece too serve.