Butterscotch Marshmallow Cake

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Last updated on January 18th, 2024 at 03:04 pm

This butterscotch marshmallow layer cake with marshmallow frosting definitely has a unique, but winning flavor. My husband actually requested this for his birthday! I based the flavors off of his favorite ice cream sundae from a local ice cream shop in the town we grew up in. The sundae has vanilla ice cream, and is smothered in butterscotch and marshmallow toppings, and is sprinkled with nuts.

I did my best to replicate that sundae in this cake for him. I love that this cake can be made with a cake mix and a few other ingredients. This butterscotch marshmallow cake is the perfect combination of lazy but pretty baking for me! I don’t have to mix too many ingredients together, but I get to make a pretty cake that tastes awesome.

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How to Make Butterscotch Marshmallow Cake

Butterscotch Cake Ingredients:

– 1 box of yellow cake mix

– 1 box (3.4 ounces) of instant butterscotch pudding mix

– 4 large eggs

– 1 cup buttermilk

– 1/2 cup vegetable oil

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Marshmallow Frosting Ingredients (x2):

– 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

– 3 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– 1 cup marshmallow fluff or marshmallow cream

– Pinch of salt

– 2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

Butterscotch Ganache Ingredients:

– 1 cup butterscotch chips

– 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

– ¼ cup powdered sugar (optional, to make thicker)

– Chopped cashews (Also optional for decoration)

Butterscotch Cake Instructions:

Preheat and Preparation:

Preheat your oven according to the instructions on the cake mix box. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper.

Mix Cake Batter:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the yellow cake mix and instant butterscotch pudding mix. Add the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Mix well until the batter is smooth and all ingredients are fully combined.

Bake:

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. I only have 2 round cake pans, so I use a measuring cup and spoon the same amount of batter into 2 cake pans and a bowl. Then, I bake the third cake round when the other 2 are done and have cooled.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely before decorating:

Marshmallow Frosting Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter until creamy and smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix until everything is smooth and there are no lumps of sugar or butter.

Mix in the marshmallow fluff or marshmallow cream.

If the frosting is too thick, you can add a tablespoon of milk or cream at a time until you achieve your desired consistency. If it’s too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar.

beat butter for marshmallow frosting until smooth

add powdered sugar to marshmallow frosting

Use the marshmallow buttercream frosting immediately to frost your cake. I recommend you make a second batch only when you’re ready to use it. This frosting is just easier to spread when it’s fresh.

Butterscotch Ganache Instructions:

Put butterscotch chips and heavy whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. If you still have solid butterscotch chips after stirring, put the bowl back in the microwave for another 30 seconds.

Keep microwaving your ganache for 30 seconds and stirring in between rounds in the microwave until it is smooth.

microwave butterscotch chips and heavy cream for 30 seconds

stir butterscotch chips and cream and microwave another 30 seconds

continue microwaving and stirring until a smooth ganache forms

Let the ganache cool on the counter until it’s room temperature.

Special Tools for Decorating Butterscotch Marshmallow Layer Cake:

– Cake board for holding your cake (You can also use a large, flat plate)

– Parchment paper cut into the size of your round pans (I use regular parchment paper, trace around my pan with a pencil, and then cut it out)

– Turntable or lazy susan (This is optional, but I think it makes decorating easier)

– Offset spatula

– Bench scraper

– Piping bag with tips

– Cake leveler (Also optional. You can use a knife, but I think the leveler just makes things easier.)

These are all the tools I like to use for basic cake decoration when making layered cakes. Making layered cakes, and making layered cakes look pretty at that, takes lots of practice! I have made many, many ugly cakes in my day. These are the tools that I find most useful to make cake-decorating a little easier.

Pro Tips for Making and Decorating Layered Cakes:

Make Frosting in 2 Batches

This marshmallow frosting is easiest to work with and spread when it’s fresh. I recommend making one batch of frosting to fill your cake before you chill it. Then, when your cake is done chilling after being filled, make your second batch of frosting to do the final decorations. This is what I do for pretty much all of the layered cakes I do, as most frosting is easiest to spread and decorate with when fresh.

Chill in the Freezer

If you’re always in a hurry (Like I am!), you can definitely chill this cake in the freezer to let your crumb coat set. If you’re chilling your cake in the freezer, I would recommend letting it in the freezer for about 30 minutes after putting on your crumb coat. Then, another 30 minutes will do after you put on your final layer of frosting. After this, you can store the cake in the fridge to keep it fresh. To avoid it going dry in the fridge, I would recommend putting it in an air-tight container if possible.

Level Off Your Cake Rounds

This is a little tricky with this cake, as the layers are thin. However, I recommend you level off just a bit of your cake rounds to ensure that everything is nice and flat. It makes it a lot easier to decorate a cake that’s even and flat!

How to Assemble and Decorate Butterscotch Layer Cake:

Here’s a video showing you how I decorated this cake:

Also, here’s another more-detailed post on how to decorate semi-naked cakes. This cake goes a step further than being a semi-naked cake, in that it’s fully frosted, but this post shows you more about how to add frosting for a crumb coat.

Basic Layer Cake Decoration Steps:

1. Place your cake board on your turntable (If using). Put your marshmallow frosting in a piping bag with a plain round tip, or no tip at all.

2. Place a dab of frosting on your cake board and place your bottom cake round on it. Then, trace a circle of frosting around your cake round. Fill in the circle with some butterscotch ganache. Finally, fill in the circle with a little more frosting and smooth it flat.

3. Repeat that for the middle layer, and put your top layer on. For your top layer, just trace a circle of frosting and fill in the circle with more frosting. Smooth it flat.

4. Finally, pipe some lines of frosting up and down the sides of your cake. Hold a bench scraper next to the side of your cake and turn it around, until a very thin layer of frosting is on the sides.

5. Place the cake in the freezer for about 30 minutes, or the fridge for an hour until the crumb coat sets.

6. Make your second batch of marshmallow buttercream frosting. Repeat the steps from above to put a thicker coating of frosting on the sides of your cake. After using the bench scraper, look for “holes” in your frosting where it’s not even. Fill in those holes with more frosting, and then give your cake another turn with the bench scraper.

7. Pipe more frosting on top and smooth it flat with an offset spatula. Continue smoothing the sides and top one after the other until, eventually, everything is smooth.

Optional: You can add some buttercream swirls on the top and drizzle them with more butterscotch ganache.

And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this butterscotch marshmallow layer cake as much as we did!

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