The BEST cake for butterscotch lovers is finally here! I’ve been wanting to create a cake that highlights butterscotch for some time, and after four attempt, I think I have this recipe down to perfection. With tender butterscotch cake, fluffy marshmallow filling, mouthwatering butterscotch buttercream, and butterscotch ganache drip, this cake will honestly blow your socks off with butterscotch flavor! And lucky for us, butterscotch is such a perfect Halloween color for the fall season, and so is the delicious flavor.

When I mentioned I had FOUR attempts at this cake, it’s completely true – it took four times to get this cake perfect. Sometimes that happens! All my cakes are made from just me in the kitchen, so sometimes my cakes come out perfectly during recipe development, and sometimes they don’t. No baker is perfect, no matter how much they try to present themselves that way on Instagram, social media, etc. And part of making mistakes in baking is all the learning and growing that happens! This is why it took so long to post this one, I wanted to make sure it was perfect. I think we have a winner after all that trial and error!

First things first, I wanted the cake to be butterscotch flavored. Butterscotch is a tricky flavor to pull off sometimes in the oven! It caramelizes and bubbles up in such a crazy way that it kept making my cakes sink! I tried using butterscotch chips, mixing melted butterscotch chips with buttermilk, and even tried butterscotch pudding mix! My cake kept sinking, and it was super frustrating. It would look perfect until the last 3-5 minutes, then would sink! UGH! So crazy! But, with a little adjustment here and there, my cakes ended up baking perfectly and had just enough butterscotch flavor to keep this gal happy. So we went with it, and I decided the cake layers were good enough to start working on my filling and buttercream.

For the filling, I made homemade marshmallow fluff, which is actually super easy to whip up, and can be made in advance. It doesn’t deflate, and tastes so light and delicious! It can even be piped on top, if you’d like. I just ran out because we were snacking on it so much, haha.

It’s made over a double boiler and requires an electric whisk/mixer. Heat is such an important factor while making a meringue, and with marshmallow, that’s no exception. Whip it up the same day you bake your cake rounds, and you’ll save yourself a step on cake decorating/buttercream day. It’s such a gorgeous compliment by flavor to the butterscotch everything that is this cake, so I totally recommend not skipping the marshmallow filling.

The buttercream is the star of this cake! It was easy to make, by just adding butterscotch ganache to my vanilla buttercrem, and then whipping it up so that it spreads beautifully on the cake. The design you see here can be achieved with the “little Mandy” cake comb from Cake Safe (it was named after me, woohoo!).

Butterscotch ganache was a no-brainer. The color is gorgeous, and adds even MORE butterscotch flavor to this cake. The ganache is made in the microwave with butterscotch chips and heavy cream and I used my drip bottle to make perfect drips down the side of the cake.

I often love to add the flavors on the inside of the cake ON TOP of the cake to take everything over the top. Add mini marshmallows and butterscotch chips, along with any leftover ganache drizzle, on top as high as you dare, and you have yourself a killer butterscotch marshmallow cake!

Here’s a little video how I assembled everything:

 

As always, make sure to tag me on Instagram @bakingwithbondie with your creations!

xo,
Mandy

Butterscotch Marshmallow Cake
Cuisine: Cakes
Author: Mandy | Baking with Blondie
With soft tender butterscotch cake, a sweet marshmallow filling, butterscotch buttercream, and a gooey butterscotch drip, this is the perfect cake for butterscotch lovers!
Ingredients
  • Butterscotch Cake[br]
  • 3.5oz butterscotch pudding mix
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
  • 3 Eggs + 1 egg white
  • 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
  • 2/3 Cup Buttermilk
  • 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
  • White Cake Mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)
  • [br]
  • Butterscotch Buttercream[br]
  • 2/3 Cup Butterscotch chips
  • 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
  • 1 1/2 Unsalted Butter (3 sticks)
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
  • 5-6 Cups Powdered Sugar
  • [br]
  • Marshmallow Filling[br]
  • 2 Egg whites
  • 1 1/2 Cup Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup Cold Water
  • 1 teaspoon corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup Mini Marshmallows
  • [br]
  • Butterscotch Ganache Drip [br]
  • 1/2 Cup Butterscotch Chips
  • 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
  • [br]
  • Garnishes[br]
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • Butterscotch Chips
Instructions
  1. FOR THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prep 3 6″ cake pans, 2 8″ cake pans, or 24 cupcake liners (with liners, or a swipe of shortening and dust of flour for the cake pans). Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, hand whisk together the pudding mix, vanilla, eggs and egg white, vegetable oil, sour cream, and buttermilk until uniform throughout. Sift in the cake mix and flour, and stir. Do not over-mix.
  3. Divide cake batter evenly between cake pans or cupcakes, and bake for 27-30 minutes for cake pans, or 12-15 minutes for cupcakes.
  4. Flip out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap carefully and freeze until you’re ready to frost the cake.
  5. FOR THE MALLOW FILLING: Over a double-boiler (or metal bowl over a small saucepan of boiling water), whisk together egg whites, sugar, water, and corn syrup with an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Add in vanilla and mini marshmallows and keep mixing until stiff peaks form again. Let cool completely, then add to a piping bag for easy filling.
  6. FOR THE BUTTERCREAM: In a small glass bowl, stir together the butterscotch chips and 2 tablespoons heavy cream and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until uniform, then let cool slightly.
  7. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter until it’s light and fluffy. Add in the salt, vanilla, and buttercream ganache mixture (that you just made in the microwave). Mix until everything is mixed it. Slowly add in the heavy cream, then the powdered sugar. Add in a touch more heavy cream if needed. Whip on high speed for 3 minutes, then on low speed for 1 minute.
  8. GANACHE DRIP: In a small glass bowl, stir together the butterscotch chips and 2 tablespoons heavy cream and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until uniform, then let cool slightly. Add to a drip bottle.
  9. ASSEMBLY: Stack and crumb coat the cake layers. Freeze for 3 minutes, then add on the final layer of buttercream. I used a cake comb to create the texture you see here in the photos (from CakeSafe “Little Mandy”). Then freeze again for 2 minutes. Add on the drip, let cool for a bit to set, then add on the marshmallows, chips, and more drizzle.