Butterscotch Brownie Cake

Happy birthday Kirk!  I made this cake for one of my fantastic friends, Kirk, because he just turned 24!  One of his favorite flavors on the face of this earth is butterscotch (if you don't believe me, refer back to the double butterscotch feature post).  I adapted this recipe from Annie's Eats , but I made a few (possibly) significant changes.  The biggest change I made was separating the eggs, beating the egg whites, and adding them in separately.  I did this to try and lighten the texture of the cake so it wouldn't be as dense as a brownie.  The cake turned out fine - but I'm not sure how it taste's yet (you'll have a wait a few hours for the verdict).  I also used my own chocolate ganache recipe because it hasn't failed me yet.

Butterscotch Blondie Cake

Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients for the butterscotch brownie cake:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, separated.
• 1 (11 oz.) package butterscotch chips, divided

Ingredients for the butterscotch ganache:

• 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
• 6 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter

Ingredients for the chocolate ganache:

• 4.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used 60%), chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour the sides of two 5-inch round cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.  In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  
2. In a bigger bowl, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed until creamy.  Scrape down the bowl.  Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.  In a smaller separate bowl, beat the egg whites until light and fluffy until stiff peaks form.  
3. Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed just until combined.  Then fold in the egg whites until well combined.  Stir in 1 cup of butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.  Sprinkle with the remaining butterscotch chips.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before carefully removing from the pans.

To make the butterscotch ganache:

1. Combine the cream and the butter in a small saucepan.  
2. Warm over medium-high heat until the mixture is almost boiling.  
3. Place the butterscotch chips in a small, heatproof bowl.  
4. Pour the cream mixture over the butterscotch chips and allow to sit for 30 seconds.  Stir until smooth.

To make the chocolate ganache:

1. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil
2. Place chopped chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a small bowl and pour hot cream, through a sieve, over the chopped chocolate.
3. Stir until smooth and creamy in texture.
4. Let stand, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened.
5. Pour over the cooled cake, slice and serve.

To assemble the cake, place one of the cake layers on a wire rack with a sheet of wax paper.  Drizzle butterscotch ganache over the top so that it drips over the edges of the cake.  Drizzle with a small amount of chocolate ganache as well.  Lay the remaining cake layer on top of the first and top with remaining butterscotch and chocolate ganache so that it drips over the edges.  Transfer the cake to a serving platter.