Butterscotch Cake with Chocolate Butterscotch Ganache

For the butterscotch cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1. Melt butterscotch chips and 1 tablespoon of the butter together in the top of a double boiler (simmering water in the bottom of the double boiler). Butterscotch chips on their own won’t melt the way chocolate does, so this mixture will reach a consistency more like dough.

2. Set aside melted butterscotch.

3. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.

4. Add remaining 4 tablespoons of room temperature butter to the stand mixer bowl and beat to incorporate.

5. Add 1/4 cup of the milk to the mixture and mix until batter resembles coarse biscuit dough, about 1 minute.

6. Whisk egg whites and vanilla into the remaining 1/4 cup of milk. Add this mixture into the stand mixer bowl in thirds, beating between each addition.

7. Add the melted butterscotch into the batter in thirds, again beating between each addition.

8. Pour batter into 2 buttered and floured 6-inch cake pans (you could also make one 8″ cake or 16 cupcakes).

9. Bake at 350 F for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (If you make this in cupcake form, shave five minutes off the baking time). When done remove cake from the oven and set on a wire rack.

For the ganache:

1. Melt chocolate, butterscotch chips, and butter together in the top of a double boiler until smooth.

2. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.

3. Invert one of your cooled cakes out of the pan onto your serving platter. Spread some ganache on top of it then add the second cake layer. Pour remaining ganache over top of the cake and spread as desired.

Adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s White Chocolate Cake Recipe in The Cake Bible