I’ve made chicken and waffle cupcakes before, but had yet to man up and make a chicken and waffles cake! After trying Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken‘s amazing chicken, I knew what had to be done. I ended up making fluffy buttermilk cake layers, frosted them in a maple, bourbon buttercream, added a spicy caramel drizzle, and topped it all with some drumsticks from BRFC. The recipe and instructions can be found below, and a full tutorial can be found here.
Buttermilk Cake Batter:
- 3 1/4 cup flour
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
- 3 tsp. vanilla extract
- 5 eggs,room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 1/8 cup vegetable oil
- 4 sticks butter
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp. bourbon
- 1 1/2 tsp. maple extract
- 1 Tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 tsp. salt
Spicy Caramel Recipe:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line four 7” round pans.
Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined.
Mix chunks of butter slowly into the dry mix on a low speed. Continue to mix until no chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients (vanilla extract, eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil), and whisk to combine.
On low speed, add 1/3 of the liquid ingredients to the dry/butter mixture. Mix until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Mix in the remaining wet ingredients in two installments, on a medium-high speed until fully incorporated.
Divide evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then run an offset spatula around perimeter of the pan to separate the cake from the pan. Place cake layers on a rack to finish cooling.
While the cakes bake and cool, prepare the vanilla buttercream frosting (click here for tutorial). Whip the butter until it is light and creamy, then slowly add the powdered sugar. Alternate installments of powdered sugar with bourbon and heavy cream, and continue mixing until the frosting has reached desired consistency. Add salt, maple extract, and vanilla, and continue mixing on medium-low until fully incorporated.
Next, prepare the spicy caramel (click here for a tutorial)! Turn stove onto medium heat, and place a pot over element. Pour in sugar. Using a heat proof stirring utensil (I use an old-fashioned wooden spoon), stir until sugar begins to melt into a clear liquid. Continue to stir, until clumps of sugar begin to form. Slowly the color of the sugar clump will deepen from white to amber. Keep stirring until all the clump of sugar have dissolved, and then turn off the heat. Mix in butter slowly, then stir in cream, cayenne, and salt. Place in fridge to cool for 20 minutes, then pour into desired container. I put mine in a squirt bottle (for drizzling)!
For the cake assembly, I also made miniature waffles to decorate the cake. I used pre-made waffle mix, as this cake already has enough components from scratch!!
I stacked and frosted the cake layers, then decorated it with miniature waffles, spicy caramel drizzles, and of course, FRIED CHICKEN!!!
The end result? A deliciously sweet and savory cake.
