~ Gonna Have To Try This

Dulce de Leche Cake with Caramel Buttercream

(cake recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

2 1/4 cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus more for dusting the pans

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool

Set oven rack in middle position. (If oven is too small to cook both layers on a single rack, set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle positions.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour.

Pour milk, egg whites, and extract into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.

Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.

Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.

Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. (If oven is small, place pans on separate racks in staggered fashion to allow for air circulation.) Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.

Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.

For the frosting:

Melt 1/2 stick butter and add 1 cup packed dark brown sugar and 1/3 cup heavy cream.

Cook until the sugar is dissolved.

Transfer to a heat proof bowl and slowly add up to 3 cups of powdered sugar stopping when your frosting has reached it's desired consistency. NOTE - this frosting dries very quickly. Once you spread it on the cake, you must work quickly to smooth it out! If the frosting dries, add a little milk or heavy cream to smoothen it out again.

Choose your most level cake layer and place it bottom side up on a plate or turntable.

Place dulce de leche in a pastry bag with a large coupler tip and line the outside border of the cake with dulce de leche (for the dulce de leche filling, I lined this a little too close to the outside and it overflowed and streaked into my icing a bit... which I ended up liking the look of so it all worked out in the end).

Add more dulce de leche and fill in between the lines.