Candy Bar Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Last month, when Nico's family was in town, we celebrated his niece's birthday.   It's hard to believe she's only 11, because she's very mature.  But at the same time, when she walked down the aisle as our flower girl, she was 6.  And in my head, she's still a sweet little 6 year old.

It was whispered in my ear that Lina has a sweet tooth, so I decided it would be a great time to make this candy bar cake, which was one of the very first things I'd ever pinned on pinterest.  A simple way to hide the fact that I cannot frost a cake.  (This seems to be a recurring sentence in my blog.)  A cake of any flavor is iced with any color icing you like, then wrapped in 6-8 packages of Kit-Kat bars, and topped with M&M's.  Any kid would love this.   For the record, I used chocolate cake and white buttercream.

Since I've already shared with you three chocolate cake recipes, I'm only going to post the Swiss meringue buttercream that I used.  Swiss meringue is a tricky icing to make.  Every single time I make it, I stare in horror at my stand mixer and lament the loss of ingredients, certain that I will have to throw it away and start again.   And every time, at the last minute, it comes together into a beautiful, silky, shiny buttercream.   I love the fact that it uses granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar.  It seems less cloyingly sweet than traditional buttercream.   And when you are topping the cake with so much candy, less sweet is better!

This cake was a hit and it was gone before my in-laws left two days later.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream 
courtesy of Sweetapolita

8 large egg white
2 cups granulated sugar
2.5 cups unsalted butter, softened, cut in cubes
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs and sugar.  Place over a simmering pot of water, whisking constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are hot.

Remove from the heat and place the bowl into your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.   Begin to whisk until the mixture is thick, glossy and has begun to cool.  Switch to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer back on to low.  Slowly add the butter one cube at a time until it is all incorporated and is a smooth texture.   (This is where I panic and think I've ruined it.  Invariably, it will look like curdled milk.  And all of a sudden, it comes together.)  Add vanilla and salt, mix well.  

This can be stored in the fridge for one week or can be frozen for 6-8 weeks.  Thaw overnight then rewhip for 5 minutes.