Spiced Caramel Layer Cake

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom of two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Grease with butter and dust with flour.
• To the bowl of a stand mixer, add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves. Mix on low to combine.
• Add in the softened butter and mix on low until a sandy, crumbly consistency is formed. Do not over mix. See video for a visual 🙂
• In a small bowl whisk eggs, egg yolks, buttermilk, applesauce, molasses, and vanilla until smooth.
• Turn mixer on low and stream the wet into the dry. Mix on medium low until the batter comes together about 1-2 minutes. You may see tiny bits of butter in the batter, but that is ok! Don’t over mix.
• Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and invert onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely.
• To make the frosting, begin by preparing a caramel. Add sugar and water to a small heavy bottomed sauce pot with high sides over medium heat.
• Let sugar and water cook, undisturbed (resist the urge to stir!) until sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is bubbling nicely.
• Let sugar continue to cook, swirling the pan as necessary, until it is caramelized. You are looking for a dark ice tea color. Be careful as the mixture starts to brown, it could burn quick!
• Once the desired color is achieved, immediately remove the caramel from the heat and carefully add in the 4 Tbsp butter. It will bubble up a bit so be careful! Carefully add the cream and stir.
• Return caramel to low heat and stir until everything is incorporated and the mixture is bubbling, about 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in vanilla and salt. Let caramel cool completely.
• Once caramel is cooled, in a stand mixer, whip the 2 sticks of butter with the powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add in cooled caramel and whip until incorporated.
• To assemble, spread about 1/3 of the frosting evenly over the top of one layer of cake. Place the second layer on top and use remaining frosting to frost the outside. Garnish with sugared cranberries and rosemary sprigs, if desired (see below).
• *You can also use an electric hand mixer for this recipe if you don’t have a stand mixer. You can also use 9 inch cake pans, the layers will just be slightly thinner and may take a couple minutes less to bake 🙂

Garnish (optional)

• Add 1/4 cup sugar to a small bowl for coating the cranberries. Set aside.
• Add 3 Tbsp sugar and water to a small pan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Let cook 1 minute. Turn off the heat, toss in cranberries, and stir to coat in the sugar mixture.
• Immediately transfer cranberries to the coating sugar and toss to cover. Transfer to a small plate or baking sheet and let cranberries cool completely.