S’mores Layer Cake with Homemade Fluff

Ingredients

• Flour: I always use all-purpose flour. Cake flour would also work well for this cake. I HIGHLY recommend measuring it with a digital scale though.
• Graham Crackers: I just used one sleeve of crackers (like one packed wrapped together that has a bout 8-9 crackers). Pulse these until they’re as fine as they’ll get.
  • I don’t recommend store bought crumbs, they taste more stale.
• Cinnamon: cinnamon is my secret weapon and totally optional but highly recommended.
• Baking powder: well, it is a cake so obviously.
• Salt: Salt brings out the flavor in all baked goods! I like fine sea salt.
• Sugar: I just love a good combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar. They play different roles in flavor and texture of the cake but substitutions are allowed if necessary. 
• Butter: Make sure it’s room temperature. Not cold, not softened and greasy, not melted. If you’re going to microwave your butter anyway, slice it and do it on 5 second intervals, rotating every time. Lol, I’m a pro if you can’t tell. 
• Oil: I prefer to use half butter and half oil in my cakes because I like the texture better. Oil adds more moisture, while butter allows you to incorporate the air and gives good flavor and structure to the cake. Use a neutral flavor like canola, sunflower, or vegetable oil.
• Eggs: I always use large eggs. I know you guys ignore that part of every recipe that says “use room temperature eggs” but I’m going to say it anyway. Use room temperature eggs. Place them in warm water for at least a few minutes before if they’re cold.
• Buttermilk: You can use a homemade buttermilk substitute but just remember substitutes are always substitutes and not the real deal. 
  • I recently made this cake for my brothers wedding and tweaked it to make it more like my vanilla cake and I loved it! I did 3/4 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of milk.
• Vanilla: I like to use vanilla extract in the cake and vanilla bean paste or real vanilla beans in the meringue.
• Cocoa Powder: I use dutch-processed cocoa powder but any kind of unsweetened cocoa powder works fine for the frosting.
• Dark Chocolate: I used dark chocolate because I think it balances the sweetness of the meringue better. You can certainly use milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate as well. 
• Heavy Whipping Cream: Heavy cream is used to make chocolate ganache for the buttercream. I like 36-40% fat.

Here are my cliff notes on stabilizing meringue:

1. Use a stand mixer with a metal bowl and the whisk attachment. Clean them all well and then wipe them down with vinegar. 
2. Use room temperature egg whites, they’ll whip up much better.
3. Use the Italian Method because cooking the sugar to a higher temperature definitely makes it more stable. 
4. Add a little bit of honey (like just a teaspoon or so) to my sugar and water because it’s an inverted sugar which prevents the sugar syrup from crystallizing. The flavor is VERY subtle but if you’re sensitive to honey you may notice it (I don’t love honey in general but I love it in meringue). If you don’t want any flavor, you can use corn syrup or glucose syrup. 
5. I normally add a tablespoon of lemon juice, a tsp of vinegar or 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar to meringue because the acidity also helps stabilize it.
6. Whip just until you get stiff peaks, no more no less. 
7. Add 1/8 tsp of gelatin per two egg whites. This is not traditional and it does alter the consistency slightly by “setting” it but 1/8 tsp is soooo little that it’s hardly noticeable and all it does it gelatinize the water that’s trying to “weep” out. 
8. The last thing is toasting it. The meringue will hold it’s shape much better if it’s toasted but the inside of it may still soften over time. 

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