Mama’s Inside Out Cake with Vanilla Bean & Espresso Butter Cream Frosting

Rules:
There really aren’t any. If you would like a lighter cake substitute milk for the half-and-half. If you like a denser cake go with heavy cream. Eggs whip better when they’re at room temperature so set them out for a little bit before you add them.

For the cakes:
Preheat oven to 400F.

In a large mixing bowl add together the butter, salt, extracts, baking powder, and sugar and mix them together until they’re nice and creamy. Then slowly add the eggs one at a time making sure to mix in each egg before adding another one. Add the flour. Then add the milk (or half-and-half).

With a small scoop or a pasty bag you want to lay out your cookies on a parchment lined or lightly greased cookie sheet. They don’t spread too much so make sure you really make them about the size you are wanting them to be, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. I like to make mine bite sized.

Bake for about 11 minutes or until cookies look set. Let cookies cool completely before adding the frosting.

Start frosting:

In a large bowl add in butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, half-and-half, and espresso. Cut your vanilla bean in half length wise and scrape out all the yummy seeds, then add them to your large bowl. Mix ingredients together until fully combined and frosting is nice and creamy. Set in fridge for 5 minutes.

How to assemble cookies:

Add a small dollop of frosting to the bottom side of one cookie. Then take another cookie and set it on top of the frosting (sandwich style). Press down slowly and lightly.
Continue for each cookie until finished.