I was never a big fan of summer as a child, which I attribute my fear of the ocean, Frisbees, and potato salad. Luckily my lack of fear of ice cream, pie, and running through the sprinkler helped me to make peace with the fair third season, and now we’re living happily ever after.
It’s a good thing too since I now live just down the street from the surface of the sun.
But summer is about so much more than just the temperature outside, don’t you think?
I can still smell my father’s old charcoal grill heating up. Taste my grandmother’s fresh raspberry jam. Feel myself freaking out over the faint chimes that could only mean the approach of the ice cream truck.
Summer is bonkers.
Now that I’m adult and someone mentioned to me (last week) that it was undignified to run through sprinklers, I have to find new ways to celebrate summer.
I pick bushels of fresh peaches from my local farm.
I grill corn for A., who is the biggest corn lover that I know.
I play Bob Marley and Blues Traveler at an inappropriate volume in my kitchen.
I wear out my flip flops.
And I bake stuff like Dulce De Leche Fun Cake With Peanut Butter Buttercream.
I just don’t see anyone turning down a piece of Fun Cake at your next picnic, potluck or pool party. How would that conversation even go?
You: “Excuse me, friend, would you like a piece of Fun Cake?”
Friend: “No. I don’t like cake and I don’t like fun.”
You: “Oh. Ok. Next time I’ll bring some Boring Soup and you can have some of that, OK?”
Friend: “Sounds great.”
Yeah, no. I just don’t see it.
Yes, I think you can be pretty confident that this one will be a hit at your next picnic, potluck or pool party. It’s ridiculously simple to prepare and has something to offer sweet fans (the cake is replete with sweet dulce de leche!), salty fans (the peanut butter buttercream is just a touch salty!), and messy fans (the whole deal is gooey and drippy!).
Nothing for Boring Soup fans, though. They’ll have to wait until Fall for that recipe.
Dulce De Leche Fun Cake With Peanut Butter Buttercream
adapted from the March 2012 issue of Bon Appétit
For the cake:
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. white sugar, granulated
1 1/4 c. dulce de leche
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. canela, ground (ground cinnamon may be substituted)
nonstick vegetable oil spray
For the frosting:
1/2 c. white sugar, granulated
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled, cubed
1 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat bottom and sides of and 8″ x 8″ baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and canela in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the oil and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the dulce de leche. Gradually beat in the dry ingredients. Scrape into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a tester comes out clean when inserted into center, approximately 35 minutes. Allow cake to cool for at least 10 minutes before unmolding.
Meanwhile, to prepare the frosting, combine the sugar and egg whites in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and mixture is hot to the touch, 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat and, using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until cool and thick, 5–6 minutes. Beat in vanilla, then salt and peanut butter. With mixer still running, add butter a few pieces at a time, beating to blend between additions.
Once cake has cooled, unmold and frost liberally. Cut and serve or store in a covered container for up to one week.
YIELD: 14-16 servings
Boring soup is good, but not as great as fun cake. Love it!
I am a fan of fun and mess and any thing sweet! So this is great! I love it!
Haha. Soup IS boring and cake can never be boring. Or actually it can but not when there’s dulce de leche involved! I love the drippiness of this.
Soup is so boring!! Each scoop looks exactly the same as the last one and before you know it your scraping the bottom of the bowl, WTH?? At least when you eat cake like this each fork stab changes the gooeyness and you don’t scrape the plate…you lick it!!
Cheers
That crispy cake top! That icing that seems to be everywhere! DO WANT… I’m featuring this post in today’s Food Fetish Friday series (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and it’s so much fun following your creations…
Thank you so much, Mr. Warrior! I SO enjoy reading your Food Fetish compilations each Friday!!
Hey Meagan,
I am in Montevideo, Uruguay, where they have some of the best dulce de leche ever made! Naturally, the first think I thought about baking was your dulce de leche sheet cake…but then I stumbled upon this recipe. That being said, the peanut butter here isn’t too great. Is there any other glaze I could substitute? Would the dulce de leche glaze for the sheet cake be too sweet? Thanks again, saludos desde Uruguay!
Thank you SO MUCH for reading from Uruguay, Marielle! Would you please send me some Uruguayan dulce de leche?? Just kidding. But I really do think you’ll enjoy this fun cake. In terms of the glaze, you could simply substitute some chocolate for the peanut butter – I think that would be an AMAZING flavor combo. Try using 4 ounces of chopped semi-sweet chocolate in place the peanut butter – you can stir it into the cooked sugar/egg mixture to melt. The frosting is not meant to be too sweet so I think this would make for a lovely topping for the cake. Let me know how it turns out!
Sorry for the late reply, but I am going to investigate if I can ship some to the US (it might count as liquid so I’m not sure if the mail people would be too happy about it). If I can, I would be more than happy to send some your way! Your recipes are my absolute favorite so I think it’s necessary for you to try this stuff.
That would be SO wonderful. Thank you, Marielle!
This looks like a cross between a brownie and a sheet cake. It sounds amazing with dulce de leche! I use it so much, yet still find new recipes all the time. Thanks for the recipe
You’re absolutely right in terms of consistency of the finished product, Paula. The cake is dense and thick like a brownie, but with the frosting ends up tasting a lot like a sheet cake.
Holy wow! That looks sinfully good!
Wow…this cake looks just scrumptious. I would definitely NOT turn down a piece if your or anyone else for that matter would offer it to me
—Absoutely Delectable. Wow. I want some. Now.
Sounds fun to me! Yum!
Keep running through the sprinklers and rockin’ out in the kitchen and wearing out flip-flops! Great looking dessert!
i ran through sprinklers this weekend, there was nothing dignified about it.
i am not ashamed.
holy cow! That looks incredibly delicious!
I’ve never heard of fun cake before, but this looks DELICIOUS! Now I just need that cookout/get-together that you were talking about to take this to!
dulce de leche AND Pb buttercream (I just made some)..oh wow, this is a great looking cake!
That cake looks awesome! can I have some? Please!
Looks so wonderful!! I love dulce de leche!!
Oh my, that looks all kinds of deliciousness. I just want to lick the screen!