Churro Layer Cake

My love for all things cinnamon-sugar is no joke, so when my brother came in town for our shared birthday, it was the perfect excuse to make this daunting cake. I say daunting because this gorgeous 3 layer dessert created by LA's Large Marge, is super complicated.
It has so many components and each made from scratch element requires you to make something else from scratch. The cake requires you to make brown butter. The frosting has two types of chocolate that have to be melted and then cooled. The pralinella (drool-worthy) is the biggest POA of them all. AND the recipe calls for you to not only make churros, but to make churro crunchies. Steps upon steps. But check out how amazing it looks!!

image from The Kitchy Kitchen

The original recipe can be found at The Kitchy Kitchen and you can watch her make it on her YouTube channel.

I like my baking shortcuts though, so I'm here to tell you how I cut corners to make this recipe a bit more manageable.

cinnamon brown butter cake
First off, I never make a cake from scratch. I prefer to doctor up a boxed mix. I found this recipe for browned butter cake from a box. I browned some butter and followed her directions with the addition of cinnamon per the original recipe. I did two 8" cakes, but in hindsight wish I would have done three 6".

pralinella
The chefs who created this stuff describe it as "nutella but with praline pecans" and it is just as delicious as it sounds. I may or may not have been dipping apples in the extra. The recipe has you make your own praline pecans, but I bought some at the store to save a step. Then I followed the recipe to grind them to a paste in my food processor. The caramelized white chocolate is so worth the effort. Don't be surprised by how runny it is. I was expecting it to be thicker but once you combine it with the praline paste and chill it, the pralinella is think but spreadable.

mexican chocolate frosting
Follow the recipe on this one. This is THE best frosting I have ever tasted. So. Freaking. Delicious.

churros and churro crunchies
Ain't nobody got time for that. I bought a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and called it a day.

The verdict? It was good. My version definitely looks pretty pathetic compared to the original. I'd make three layers next time and go heavier with the frosting. The cake layers are really thick and need more pralinella and frosting than I used. I am definitely making this cake again.