Pretzel Cake Layers
By Sarah EwaldPublished on February 14, 2020
Time
1 hour, plus 2¼ hours cooling
Yield
Makes two 9-inch cake layers
Ingredients
5 ounces (142 grams) thin pretzel sticks, broken into roughly ½-inch pieces (2 cups)1 ¼ cups whole milk 6 large egg whites 3 tablespoons molasses 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 ¾ cups (7 ounces/198 grams) cake flour 1 ½ cups (10½ ounces/298 grams) sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons table salt 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 14 pieces and softened
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, and grease parchment. Process pretzels in food processor until finely ground, 1 to 2 minutes; set aside.
- Whisk milk, egg whites, molasses, and vanilla together in 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pretzels on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute.
- Add half of milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds (batter may look slightly curdled). Give batter final stir by hand. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth tops with rubber spatula.
- Bake until tops of cakes are golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, switching and rotating pans halfway through baking. Let cakes cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discarding parchment, and let cool completely on rack, about 2 hours.
Time
1 hour, plus 2¼ hours coolingYield
Makes two 9-inch cake layersIngredients
5 ounces (142 grams) thin pretzel sticks, broken into roughly ½-inch pieces (2 cups)
1 ¼ cups whole milk
6 large egg whites
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups (7 ounces/198 grams) cake flour
1 ½ cups (10½ ounces/298 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons table salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 14 pieces and softened
Ingredients
5 ounces (142 grams) thin pretzel sticks, broken into roughly ½-inch pieces (2 cups)
1 ¼ cups whole milk
6 large egg whites
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups (7 ounces/198 grams) cake flour
1 ½ cups (10½ ounces/298 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons table salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 14 pieces and softened
Ingredients
5 ounces (142 grams) thin pretzel sticks, broken into roughly ½-inch pieces (2 cups)
1 ¼ cups whole milk
6 large egg whites
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups (7 ounces/198 grams) cake flour
1 ½ cups (10½ ounces/298 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons table salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 14 pieces and softened
Why This Recipe Works
To make sweet cake layers with pretzel flavor, we started by grinding up pretzels into a “flour” to use in the batter. The addition of some cake flour ensured that the cake had enough structure and was tender, not dense. A little salt and a heavy dose of molasses reinforced the pretzel flavor.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, and grease parchment. Process pretzels in food processor until finely ground, 1 to 2 minutes; set aside.
- Whisk milk, egg whites, molasses, and vanilla together in 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pretzels on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute.
- Add half of milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds (batter may look slightly curdled). Give batter final stir by hand. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth tops with rubber spatula.
- Bake until tops of cakes are golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, switching and rotating pans halfway through baking. Let cakes cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discarding parchment, and let cool completely on rack, about 2 hours.
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