Butterscotch Cake with Pretzel Brownies

5 from 3 votes

This moist butterscotch cake is made with homemade butterscotch sauce. It is filled with fudgy pretzel brownies and topped with butterscotch buttercream. It is complete with a butterscotch drip with butterscotch chips.

Prep Time1 35

Cook Time55

Decorating Time1

Total Time3 30

Servings:

Calories: 764kcal

Author: Stephanie Rutherford

Ingredients

Butterscotch Sauce

8 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1 ½ cups Brown sugar dark packed
1 ½ teaspoon Salt
1 cup Plus 2 tablespoon Heavy cream room temperature
1 ½ tablespoon Pure vanilla extract

Butterscotch Cake

¾ cups Unsalted butter room temperature
1 ¾ cup White granulated sugar
½ cup Butterscotch sauce
4 Egg whites room temperature
1 Large egg room temperature
3 cups All-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon Salt
1 cup Buttermilk room temperature

Pretzel Brownies

1 ⅓ cup White granulated sugar
2 Large eggs cold
1 Egg yolk cold
5 tablespoon Unsalted butter melted
⅓ cup Oil canola or vegetable
1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
½ cup All-purpose flour
¾ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
¼ teaspoon Salt
½ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup Milk chocolate chips
⅛ cup Mini chocolate chips
½ cup Pretzels chopped plus extra for topping brownies

Butterscotch Buttercream

3 cups Unsalted butter slightly cold
9 cups Powdered sugar sifted
¾ cup Butterscotch sauce

Butterscotch drip

1 cup Butterscotch chips
¼ cup Plus 1 tablespoon Heavy cream

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Butterscotch Sauce

In a sauce pan with high sides, melt the butter until almost melted on medium heat. Add in brown sugar and stir with wooden spoon until brown sugar has an almost liquid consistency.
Add in heavy cream in thirds. Stir completely before adding more heavy cream. Switch to a whisk and whisk consistently until mixture is bubbly and reaches 220°F. This take 10-15 minutes.
Add in salt and vanilla and mix. Pour butterscotch sauce in a glass measuring jar. Allow the sauce to cool completely before using.

Butterscotch Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray three 8 inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray. Place an 8 inch parchment circle on the bottom of each pan and spray again.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix the egg whites and egg together. Beat very lightly with a fork. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium for 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl and add the butterscotch sauce. If the butterscotch is too thick. Heat in the microwave for 10 seconds until pourable. Beat for 30 seconds on medium.
Add in eggs one at time. Mix on low until starting to combine, then add in the next egg. Scrape the bowl and mix again for 30 seconds.
Add in ⅓ of the dry ingredients and half of the buttermilk. Mix until almost combined. Add in the ⅓ of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk. Mix again until almost combined. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl and mix for 20 seconds.
Evenly divide the batter between the three cake pans. Bake for 18-22 minutes. When a toothpick is inserted it should come out clean.
Let the pans sit for 10 minutes before transferring the cakes to a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool completely. Wrap the cakes in cling wrap and store in the freezer.

Pretzel Brownies

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray an 8X8 inch pan with baking spray. Line the bottom and 2 sides of the pan with parchment paper and spray again.
Using a mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar for 5 minutes on high.
While the eggs are mixing, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. Once the eggs are doing mixing, add in melted butter, oil, and vanilla and mix on low until combined.
Take the bowl off the mixer. Pour in the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula and very gently fold in the dry ingredients. Add in all of the chocolate chips and chopped pretzels. Pour the batter into the pan.
Bake for 33-38 minutes. The edges will be set and middle should be slightly underdone. Place the pan on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Freeze for 15 minutes before cutting into 9 squares.

Butterscotch Buttercream

Place cold butter on the counter for 30 minutes. This will allow the butter to be slightly cold. Use a mixer and beat the butter on medium for 2 minutes until fluffy.
Slowly add in the sifted powdered sugar, mix until combined. Then, add in the butterscotch sauce. Mix on low until starting to combine, then switch to high. Beat for 4 minutes. Scrape the bowl, then beat again on high for 1 minute.
Chill the buttercream in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then, take a wooden spoon and beat by hand to remove all air bubbles.

Butterscotch Drip

In a small bowl, pour in the butterscotch chips. In a small sauce pan, heat the heavy cream on medium-low until steaming and hot. Pour over the butterscotch chips. Let sit for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Stir the butterscotch ganache until smooth and melted. If the chips don't melt all the way, then microwave for 10 second intervals until melted. Pour ¼ of the ganache into a squeeze bottle for the drip.

Assembly

Take cakes out of the freezer and let sit on counter for 1 hour.
Put a small layer of frosting on an 8 inch cake board circle. This acts as the glue. Place the first layer bottom side down. Pipe 2 layers of buttercream on the border of the cake.
Spread ¼ cup of buttercream as a thin layer on the cake. Take the brownies, then, crumble and compact them onto the cake. Drizzle butterscotch sauce over the crumbled brownies. Spread a little less than ¼ cup of buttercream on top of the brownies. Repeat with the second layer.
Place last layer of cake bottom side up. Frost the cake in a thin layer of frosting. This will be the crumb coat. Freeze the cake for 15 minutes. Frost the rest of the cake.
Use a squeeze bottle of butterscotch ganache to drip it down the sides of the cake. Pour the rest of the ganache on top of the cake. Use an offset icing spatula to create a spiral on top. Freeze the cake for 10 minutes.
Pipe extra buttercream on top of the cake. Top with butterscotch chips.

Notes

Make the cake, butterscotch sauce, and pretzel brownies a day before decorating. Make the frosting and butterscotch ganache the day of decorating the cake.

Cake-

Flour: Make sure flour is spooned and leveled. Too much flour can dry out the cake.

Room temperature ingredients: Make sure all dairy ingredients are room temperature before baking. Pull them out for 2 hours before baking.

Brownies-

Make sure brownies are cool all the way before cutting into them.

Nutrition