Yellow Heath Bar Cake

So let's just start from the beginning.  My boyfriend and I both worked at a self-serve frozen yogurt shop last year in Marin county (called Swirl) and my favorite topping was the chopped up Heath Bar.  Before he left for school last year he gave me several pounds, yes POUNDS, of Heath Bar and I still have so much left! He was able to get his hands on this massive load of Heath because the shop we worked at orders everything in bulk amounts.  So.... because of all this I use every excuse to make something with it because it's so delicious.

And there was another birthday in my family! My brother turned sweet sixteen and he also happens to be a Heath fan, I mean who isn't right?  The cake I made was a yellow cake with a chocolate cream cheese filling (with heath bar bits) and a pretty simple white frosting on the outside.

Ingredients:

This recipe will make about 12 servings.

For the Yellow Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

1.5 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup milk

3 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

For Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling: 

1/8 cup butter

4 oz softened cream cheese

2 oz melted chocolate (I used semisweet but you can use whatever you want)

1.5 cups of powdered sugar (sifted)

1/6 cup of half-and-half

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cocoa powder (if desired)

For White Vanilla Frosting: 

1/2 cup plus about 2 tablespoons of butter

1.5 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp milk

3-4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

pinch of salt

Directions:

Cake: 

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare two 8-inch round cake pans by spraying with cooking spray and placing parchment paper in the bottom. 

Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) in a medium bowl. 

Combine sugar and butter in a mixer and beat until light and fluffy.  Then add eggs one at a time. 

Next, add flour mixture alternatively with the milk.  The final step is to add the vanilla.  

Separate the batter evenly into the 2 pans and bake for about 20-25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before continuing. 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling:

Cream together softened butter and cream cheese in a mixer. 

Beat in melted chocolate, salt, powdered sugar, half-and-half, and vanilla.  At this point you should evaluate what you have and decide whether or not you want to add the cocoa powder or not.  The filling I ended up putting in the middle of the cake was without the cocoa, but I decided to make more for garnish and did add the cocoa and liked it much more (your call).

White Vanilla Frosting:

Beat together the butter, salt, and vanilla.  

Add the milk and the powdered sugar until you have reached a desired consistency (it may be a little bit more or a little bit less than what I have indicated). 

Putting It All Together!

First, put a layer of filling on the upside of one of the cooled round cakes.  Then sprinkle a hefty amount of Heath Bar on top of the filling and place second cake round on top.  

Next, coat the entire top and sides of the cake with the white vanilla frosting and place in the fridge to set for 10 minutes. 

Finally, decorate it however you want! I piped some extra chocolate cream cheese frosting around the base and the top, placed a circle of heath bar bits on the top, dyed some extra white frosting blue and wrote "Happy Birthday Willie" and also drew some bikes around the sides.  (My brother is a big downhill biker by the way).

It was a big hit for the teens and some of the parents that stopped by as well. Hope you try it out and if you have any questions, concerns, feedback that would be great! Happy baking!