Root Beer Cake

Root Beer Cake! That's right, I said it, quake with fear! Cake made wit root beer is probably the best cake I could think of. I made this cake for a Cub Scout Cake Auction, it was the last cake sold and it sold for the most money. The sad part is that it sold based almost entirely on my reputation with no real promise how it would taste, especially since it was missing an ingredient, but we'll get to that. First the recipe just as I found it on saveur.com, another great resource.

Here is my cake covered finished. Turning fondant brown requires kneading in cocoa powder, not the funnest thing. The foam is extra icing I piped out with a Big Star Tip. I had about 30 minuets for cover this cake and decorate it so it was far from the best fondant work I have ever done, but the icing foam let me cover up most of my mistakes.

2 cups butter, plus 1 tsp. to grease pan
2 1⁄2 cups cake flour, plus 1 tbsp. for dusting cake pan
2 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup root beer
5 tsp. root beer extract (preferably Zatarain's)
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
4 room-temperature eggs
4 1⁄2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp. Cream

1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 9" × 13" pan with 1 tsp. of the butter; dust with 1 tbsp. of the cake flour; tap bottom of pan to remove excess flour.

2. Sift remaining cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

3. Whisk together root beer and 2 tsp. of the root beer extract in a bowl; set aside.

4. Beat sugar and 1 cup of the butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating briefly after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and root beer mixture, waiting for each to be incorporated before adding the next. Mix briefly, then transfer batter to pan; smooth out top.

5. Bake, rotating once, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool

6. Put confectioners' sugar and remaining butter into a bowl; beat with an electric mixer to combine. Add cream and remaining root beer extract; beat to make a fluffy frosting. Spread frosting on cake, making swirls and whorls. Decorate with root beer candies.

Now root beer extract proved hard to find when it came time to make my cake so I just had to do without. It did effect the flavor so I defiantly recommend using it, order it online if you have to, but don't skip it like I did. I tried to make up for it by brushing the cake with root beer before I iced it, it helped some, and kept the cake moist, but did not make up for the lack of extract.

The icing I made with root beer and it came out great. It is important to let it chill in the fridge, so make sure to make it first. This would even be good with just vanilla frosting too, like a float.

The recipe says to serve it with root beer candies, which I think is a horrible idea. Root beer candies are dense and hard, not something you want on top of your cake. For me it would be vanilla ice cream, strawberries, or milano cookies. Think about it.

This recipe was for a sheet cake but just as easy for layers. Mine was 4 layers covered in fondant, not something I suggest everyone try. In fact I think there is a lot to be said for this to be a sheet cake. This cake is fun and different a great cake to serve to guests, and a good way to show off to them too. Who could really turn down a piece of root beer cake?