Vanilla Bean Cake with Whipped Dulce de Leche Frosting

Well, today's post sure couldn't be more different than my last post! On Tuesday, I shared a recipe for an amazingly simple and flavorful Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt. It's a classic flavor combination (who doesn't love lemon and poppy seed, am I right?), and quick to whip up. It's an effortless Bundt cake that packs a ton of bright and assertive flavor in every single bite.  It's my kind of cake!  Today's cake on the other hand, is pretty much everything that Meyer lemon cake is not.  It requires a little more thought and planning, the flavors aren't as bold, and takes a bit more time to prepare than a simple Bundt cake.  Despite all that, this cake is just as amazing. Fluffy vanilla bean cakes layered with sweet dulce de leche, and then carefully covered in a dreamy whipped dulce de leche frosting. There's nothing seasonal about it, but it sure was tasty.

I normally don't make layer cakes because I really don't like frosting that much and since they take longer to make than Bundt or loaf cakes, they're usually low on my priority list.  Every now and then though, inspiration strikes and I get an idea that I just need to make, or I get an urge to just make one for no real reason. This past weekend, the latter situation took place.  During an editorial meeting at work, we had been bouncing around ideas and someone very quickly mentioned "layer cake."  Just hearing those words made me realize that I needed to make one.  I didn't know what flavor, or what I wanted it to look like...I only knew for sure that I would be baking up something fancy. 

Dulce de Leche Bundt Cake

Is it bad that it's only been about three weeks into the school year, and I'm already tired?  Seriously, though. It's been three weeks, I'm only taking 13 credits, I'm NOT taking a studio course, but regardless of all those factors, I'm just pooped.  I've never taken only 4 classes in a semester before, but somehow, I feel like I've been assigned more reading than ever in my last three years at Columbia.  It's not even a joke.  I spend whatever time I'm not in class either scanning books in the library (because I REFUSE to spend any more money on books or supplies.  I'm so over spending absurd amounts of money on books that I'm going to use only a handful of times in a semester), or trying to plow through all the reading I have to do.  Sigh.  Did I really think taking two seminars at once would be a good idea?  Silly me. 

All this crazy amount of reading has me staying up late at night, and since I refuse to let homework/lack of sleep interfere with my workout schedule, I've had to get rid of nap-time, so I guess that's also factoring into my chronic state of drowsiness.  But whatever, there's no time to complain about lost hours of sleep or the pile of reading on my desk that seems to be growing at an exponential rate as the days go by.  I came home for the weekend, so that I could bake up some yummy fall-inspired goodies, and had to pack along a folder stuffed with readings for my architecture criticism seminar (which is actually amazing, so I don't reeaallyyyyy mind the readings too much), and readings for my class on 18th century cities (these are the annoying ones...).  Oh well!  I might not have time to do very much other than read and follow my baking schedule this weekend, but I do have time to talk about cake.  Dulce de leche cake, to be exact.  There's ALWAYS time to talk about dulce de leche and cake, especially when they get put together!

Alfajores

It's time for another short and photo-filled post. Not that that's a bad thing.  I think these cookies are super pretty.  Alfajores.  These are one of my favorite cookies...ever.  They're nothing fancy, really.  They're just shortbread cookies that have been sandwiched together with a little dulce de leche and then rolled around in a little shredded coconut for a finishing touch, and added sweetness.

Alfajores are a very popular cookie in Argentina, and you can find them in bakeries and shops all over Latin America (which is a good thing, because these cookies are just so good!)  They're light and delicate, and I would think they would be nice to serve with other little light and delicate goodies at a tea-time of sorts...Mother's Day tea perhaps?

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

It’s National Ice Cream month…I actually had no idea until only recently…is there some sort of food calendar that designates a particular food for each month?  Apparently such a calendar exists, and I must find it.  I’d like to keep up to date with it. 

In celebration of National Ice Cream month, I made one of my favorite flavors of ice cream- dulce de leche.  Dulce de leche, otherwise known as arequipe in some Latin American countries, is essentially a “milk candy,” that can be made at home by cooking condensed milk, if you can’t find it in your supermarket.  There’s always dulce de leche at my house, as it is an incredibly popular sweet spread that can be used on virtually anything.  Think of it this way: dulce de leche is the Latin American equivalent of Nutella, the infamous Italian chocolate-hazelnut spread.  Like Nutella, dulce de leche can be spread on toast, baked in all sorts of desserts, eaten with fruit, and of course, blended into ice cream.