spring treats #2: Pot of Gold Cake

well if you can't tell by now, i absolutely love holidays.

i love everything about them.

since things have been pretty hectic lately (i spent 6 hours in the accounting lab today), we haven't had time to decorate for St. Patrick's Day and well... that was just not okay with me.

so Christian helped me make this tasty little leprechaun cake.

i think it turned out so cute.

and it actually tasted delicious!

i had to make up my own frosting because i was being pretty fickle and just couldn't decide what type would go well with this cake.

i used Martha Stewart's Vanilla Cake recipe,

and it worked like a charm (no pun intended. ha...).

i'm so excited to share this with you!

make this cake on Thursday and maybe it will bring you some luck :)

Pot of Gold Cake

adapted from Martha Stewart

1 c. (2 sticks) softened butter

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 large eggs, plus 3 large egg yolks

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. buttermilk

yellow and green food coloring

preheat oven to 350 degrees. butter and flour two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans, tap out excess flour. in a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (dry ingredients). in a bowl, using your kitchen aid mixer (or electric hand mixer), beat butter and sugar until fluffy. with mixer on low, beat in eggs and egg yolks, one at a time.

beat in vanilla. beginning and ending with flour mixture, alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to bowl, mixing until just combined.

*before adding to pans, pour half of the batter into another bowl. add yellow coloring to one bowl and green coloring to the other. mix until combined.

pour batters into pans.

bake for 32-35 minutes. let cool in pans for 10 minutes.

invert cakes onto a wire rack. once the cakes are completely cooled, cut each cake in half horizontally, creating 4 layers. lay one layer onto cake plate. frost top of cake layer (recipe below), then add another layer of the opposite color and frost. Add the next two layers like previous layers, so all layers are added and frosted so the colors are alternating. frost the top layer and the sides of the cake. top with your favorite sprinkles and enjoy! :)

Spur of the Moment Frosting

2 sticks (1 c. butter)

one 7 oz. jar marshmallow creme (could be substituted for cream cheese!)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. milk (to thin if needed)

4-5 c. powdered sugar

beat butter and marshmallow creme until light and fluffy. add vanilla, powdered sugar, and optional milk to mixture and combine until well mixed.

spread on the cake layers. :)

yum!