Milk Bar-Inspired Pretzel Cake

This incredible salty-sweet pretzel cake is layered with buttery pretzel crumbs, a rich chocolate stout ganache and a silky burnt honey frosting. It’s a salty-sweet lovers dream!

This is one of two cakes* I made for my college boyfriend back when we were freshly graduated from college and I threw him a surprise wine and cheese-themed party. Happily, I decided that a party of 15+ people (and also an A+ boyfriend) warrants two Milk Bar-inspired cakes, particularly since they’re only 6″ big and everyone likes variety.

This cake is adapted from the original Milk Bar recipe which you can find in their cookbook!

*the other was this peach and chocolate cake!

Tips and tricks

• Stagger the components: Milk Bar cakes seem like tons and tons of work but I really think the textural and flavor payoff from all the components is worth it. I highly recommend making a few of the components a day or two before you want to assemble the cake. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and freeze before using to make it easier to handle and frost!
• No need for acetate: All Milk Bar cakes call for acetate during the assembly step of the recipe. Acetate is the same thing as plastic transparencies. I’ve tried making Milk Bar-style cakes both with and without acetate and find both methods functional. If you don’t want to purchase acetate, any sturdy but flexible material to provide structure for the cake layers (such as priority mail envelopes) will work.

How to make this layered pretzel cake

Step 1: Bake the cake + crumbs and chill until ready to use. Don’t make the ganache + frosting until you’re ready to assemble the cake. (I chilled my cake overnight in the fridge and made the frostings the next day.)

Step 2: Remove the cake from the pan and cut out two 6″ circles. I lightly pressed my 6″ springform cake pan into the cake for a guide, then used a knife to do the actual cutting.

Step 3: Place your pan on wax paper or a wax paper-lined plate and line the inside of the pan with acetate or a sturdy but flexible material, like these priority envelopes.

Step 4: Line the pan with wax paper if using a material that is not food-safe (i.e. priority envelopes or anything else you don’t want your cake touching).

Step 5: Put all the leftover cake scraps in the bottom of the ring. Mash everything down with your fingers until you have an even layer.

Step 6: Soak the bottom layer with approximately 2 tablespoons of stout (half of a 1/4 cup, pictured below).

Step 7: Using a long rubber spatula, spread one third of the stout ganache over the bottom layer.

Step 8: Reserving about 1/2-2/3 cup of pretzel crumbs for the top of the cake, sprinkle half of the remaining pretzel crumbs over the ganache.

Step 9: Dollop half of the burnt honey frosting on top of the crumb layer. Spreading this is nearly impossible, so try to just drop the frosting where you want it. Seriously.

Step 10: Slide a full ring of cake onto the top of the frosting and repeat the stout soak, ganache, crumbs and frosting layers.

Step 11: Finish with the last full ring of cake, a layer of ganache and the reserved crumbs. Freeze for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Step 12: Remove from freezer at least 3 hours before serving. To unmold, I found the easiest way was to firmly grasp the wax paper on top so all the crumbs don’t spill out, invert the cake, pull off the cake pan, and set the cake right side up again. I was terrified to invert the cake, but the wax paper will actually hold everything in pretty well. Watch!

Milk Bar-Inspired Pretzel Cake

Erika Kwee

With a salty-sweet pretzel cake, a rich stout chocolate ganache and buttery burnt honey frosting, this cake is perfect for chocolate, beer or snack lovers–in other words, everyone.

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Prep Time 3 hours hrs

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Servings 1 3-layer 6-inch cake

Ingredients

  

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For the pretzel crunch

• 2.5 cups pretzels
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons powdered nonfat milk
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the pretzel cake

• 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups pretzels, ground finely

For the stout ganache

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 170g
• 3 tablespoons stout beer
• 1 tablespoon almond milk

For the burnt honey frosting

• 2.5 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons water
• 4 large egg yolks
• ½ cup sugar
• 8 tablespoons butter at room temperature
• milk optional

For assembly

• Chocolate stout beer

Instructions

 

Make the pretzel crunch

• Heat the oven to 350F degrees. In a food processor, pulse the pretzels until they're mostly broken down into crumbs with some larger chunks. Toss the pretzel pieces in a bowl with the light brown sugar, powdered milk and salt. Add the melted butter and stir to coat.
• Spread the clusters on a parchment or silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, at which point they should look toasted and smell buttery. Cool completely before layering in cake.

Make the cake

• With an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and molasses. Add eggs one at a time, beating to combine after each egg. Whisk together buttermilk and oil until combined and stream into the egg mixture with the electric mixer on.
• Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl (to prevent clumps), then add to the wet ingredients in two additions with the mixer on low. Mix until just combined, and finish off the mixing by hand with a rubber spatula until there are no streaks of dry ingredients. Be careful not to overmix at this point, or you will end up with tough, rubbery cake.
• Line a 9×13” pan with well-greased parchment paper. Pour cake batter into prepared pan and tap the pan firmly on the countertop to even out the layer. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan completely before using. (I stuck mine in the freezer while making the frostings).

Make the ganache

• Add the chocolate chips, stout and milk to a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until melted (do not let the mixture get overcooked).

For the burnt honey frosting

• In a small saucepan, bring honey to a boil; reduce heat and simmer JUST until honey begins to smoke. Immediately remove from heat; slowly stir in 2 tablespoons water.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment, whisk egg yolks for 3 to 4 minutes until pale and frothy-looking—they should look like they could almost hold soft peaks.
• Add sugar and remaining water to honey mixture and cook over high heat until temperature reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage) with large, frothy, caramel-colored bubbles.
• Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle honey mixture down the side of the bowl (the hot sugar mixture should be slowly introduced to the egg) into the egg yolks. Continue to whisk at a medium speed for about 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and cool with no trace of warmth. Whisk in butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, until incorporated.
• (Note: The original recipe called for nearly a pound of butter, which would probably make this frosting easier to work with. I added 2 tablespoons, forgot about adding the rest and it turned out fine, though the frosting was difficult to work with. You can experiment with more butter if you like, or whisking in additional milk until the consistency is more drizzle-able. I would recommend adding at least half a stick of butter and a drizzle of milk. The finished cake tended to crumble when sliced, which I think could have been remedied had this frosting had been able to spread more and seal the pretzel crumbs and cake layers together.)

To assemble

• Remove the cake from pan by inverting the pan over a cutting board lined with wax paper. Cut the cake into two 6″ rounds using a 6″ cake ring or pan, reserving the leftover cake scraps for the bottom layer.
• Clean off the cake ring and place it on a plate or cutting board lined with wax paper. Line the inside of the ring your choice of sturdy structural material (acetate, priority mail envelopes, sturdy paper, etc). Line the structural material with parchment paper or wax paper if you are not using a food-friendly material.
• Line the bottom of the cake ring with the cake scraps to form the bottommost layer. Mash down the scraps with your fingers until the layer is flat. Spoon or brush 2 tablespoons of stout beer evenly across the top of the layer. Dollop 1/3 of the stout ganache evenly across the cake (this is difficult to do perfectly; spotty coverage is fine!). Reserve ½ cup of pretzel crumbs for the top of the cake, and sprinkle half of the remaining crumbs evenly across the ganache. Dollop half of the burnt honey frosting across the top.
• Place another round of cake on top of the frosting. Repeat the soak, ganache, crumb and frosting process. Place the last round of cake down, but do not soak this layer. Spread the last 1/3 of ganache on top and end with reserved pretzel crumbs.
• Freeze cake for at least three hours, or up to overnight. Remove from cake ring, pull of plastic wrap or acetate and allow to come to room temperature—approximately 2-3 hours—before serving!

Notes

Adapted from here
and here.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!