Sandcastle cake recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 cups sugar
• 6 tsp vanilla extract
• 12 large eggs
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 cups sour cream (or milk)

• 3 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract, or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 7 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 3 cups Edible Sand
• Chocolate Seashell Truffles

Bake the Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 (6-inch) round cake pans, and 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and smooth. Add the vanilla extract, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing with each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the batter in 2 additions, alternating with the sour cream.
4. Spoon the batter into your prepared pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. Cool completely.
Make the Buttercream
5. Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, then add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, beating with each addition.
Assembly
6. Slice the tops and bottoms off all the cakes to remove any excess browning and flatten the surfaces. Stack the two large cakes and spread some buttercream in between. Repeat with the two small cakes, but stack them separately from the larger cakes.
7. Coat all cakes in a generous layer of buttercream. Use your hand to press edible sand to the entire surface of all of the cakes.
8. Slide a cake spatula underneath the smaller cake and place it on top of the larger cake.
9. Mix the remaining buttercream with a couple spoons of edible sand. Place it into a piping bag and snip off the end to create a large piping tip. Pipe swirls onto the top of the cake. The sand will make it slightly tricky for them to stick to the cake, but it will work! Sprinkle some more sand on top. Decorate with some Chocolate Seashell Truffles and enjoy!