Milky Way Cake

I "built" this cake for my brother's birthday.  One of his favorite candy bars is Milky Way and I happened to have an entire bag of fun-size Milky Ways leftover from Halloween so I googled "Milky Way Cake".  I got a lot of hits for this recipe by Paula Deen and I know she's the Queen of Butter but omigod there are 3 sticks of butter in the cake and another stick in the frosting!!!  Add to that tons of candy and shoot this is just beyond unhealthy lol!

Anyway, I didn't make the frosting this time but will include the original recipe.  Once I saw that it had sugar boiling directions (similar to my failed fudge) I decided that I didn't yet have enough courage to give it a try.  So, I bought a can of Duncan Hines Whipped Chocolate Frosting.  I also omitted all of the nuts because my brother is allergic but I bet those and the frosting would have been a delicious addition.  My fun size bag was about 3oz short on the total amount of Milky Ways but I figured it was good enough.  I made a 2-layer cake instead of 3 because I only own 2 round cake pans...just add some additional baking time.  I also broke out the big guns to make this cake...the new red Kitchen Aid Professional Stand Mixer that my parents bought me for our housewarming party.

Here are some pictures of my actual cake and a picture with my brother...

Milky Way Cake
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Photo Credit: Love at First Bite

Yields: 16-20 servings

Ingredients

For Cake:

• Confectioners' sugar or cocoa  powder, for dusting pans
• 8 (1 3/4 ounce) Milky Way bars
• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Icing:

• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup marshmallow cream
• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 ounces chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Grease three 9-inch cake pans and dust them with confectioner's sugar. To make the cake, melt the Milky Way bars with 1 stick of butter. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Cream the remaining 2 sticks of butter with the granulated sugar. Add the beaten eggs and the cooled chocolate mixture. Sift the flour and the baking soda together. Alternately add the flour and buttermilk to the batter, blending well. Add the nuts and vanilla.
3. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cake is firm to the touch. Cool for 5 minutes, remove from the pans and place on cooling racks.
4. While the cake cools prepare the icing. Combine the sugar and milk in a heavy saucepan. Cook to the soft-ball stage (234 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove the pan from the heat and add the marshmallow cream, butter and chocolate chips, stirring until melted. Add the pecans. When the cake has cooled completely, frost each layer, sides and top of the Milky Way Cake.

Source: Paula Deen as seen on Love at First Bite