Frosted Circus Animal Cookie Cake

1. To make the cake layers, prepare two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
4. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
5. Add the butter, sugar and vegetable oil to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
6. Add the eggs and mix until completely combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
7. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
8. Add the vanilla extract and milk and mix until well combined. The batter will look a little curdled, but that’s ok.
9. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
10. Divide the batter in half. Put one half into one of the cake pans and spread evenly. Color the color half with the pink and ivory gel color, then spread evenly into the other prepared cake pan.
11. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
12. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.
13. When you’re ready to build the cake, make the filling. Beat the butter until smooth.
14. Add the animal cookie crumbs and beat until well combined.
15. Add the powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons of water or milk and beat until well combined.
16. Add the vanilla extract, salt and additional water or milk as needed to get the right consistency.
17. Stir in the crumbled animal cookies.
18. To build the cake, torte the two cakes so that you end up with four layers total.
19. Place the first pink layer of cake on a serving plate or cardboard cake circle. Spread about 3/4 cup of the filling into an even layer on top of the cake.
20. Repeat with a layer of white cake and another layer of filling.
21. Add the second layer of pink cake and another layer of filling.
22. Top the cake with the second white layer of cake.
23. If there’s some frosting sticking out from around the edges, try to smooth it out a bit, then set the cake aside.
24. To make the white chocolate buttercream, add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
25. Add the melted white chocolate chips in a three batches, mixing until well incorporated and smooth. You want to add it in a few batches to try to ensure that it mixes well, without any lumps forming from the white chocolate.
26. Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
27. Add the salt and 3-4 tablespoons of cream, then mix until smooth.
28. Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
29. Add additional cream, as needed, until you get the right frosting consistency.
30. Frost the outside of the cake with the buttercream (use my tutorial for frosting a smooth cake, if you like), then press sprinkles into the sides of the cake.
31. To make the pink ganache, add the white chocolate chips to a medium sized bowl.
32. Add the cream to a microwave safe measuring cup and heat just until it begins to boil. Pour the cream over the white chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. If it doesn’t smooth out completely, microwave in 10 second increments, stirring between each, until the white chocolate is melted and smooth.
33. Add the pink icing color until you reach your desired shade.
34. Drizzle the ganache around the edge of the cake, then fill in the center.
35. Pipe some swirls of the remaining buttercream around the top edge of the cake, then finish it off with some additional animal cookies.