Move aside boring casserole sweets—this Bread Pudding Layer Cake took your dessert spot! Buttery yellow cake sandwiches a thick creamy bread pudding made with Hawaiian rolls. A well balanced Salted Caramel Frosting is the glue holding together this custard-y treat!
Bread pudding in a cake? Yes it is real. It is here.
I have a mild, unhealthy, obsession with these sweet rolls. I will use any excuse to make a dessert with them.
The bread pudding is that quintessential casserole taken to the max. No egg whites are to be found. Using only egg yolks creates a smooth taste. That off putting sulfur flavor comes from cooked egg whites, so the best solution was to nix the egg whites completely. Adding reserved dry bread cubes on top of the soaked bread pudding creates that quintessential crusty golden top.
The cake layers are a rich butter yellow cake. The use of oil creates a compact cake crumb that’s still tender. Its soft and sturdy nature holds up against the bread pudding layer.
Finally the salted caramel buttercream is a well balanced salted caramel frosting. Salted caramel, more often than not, just tastes like sugar. There is ample salt, and ample butter, to tame the sweetness of the brown sugar.
Crumb layers bolster that salty sweet motif. For ample textures and flavors, consume this cake the day you assemble it. This bread pudding will soak the bottom cake layer and produce a soggy cake.
So enjoy this classic bread pudding in a new layer cake form!
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- For the Yellow Cake:
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- For the Bread Pudding Layer:
- 1 12-ounce package of sweet dinner rolls, cut into small ½-inch cubes
- ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
- 9 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt
- 2 ½ cups heavy cream
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- For the Salty Sweet Crumble:
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ cup (4 tablespoons, 2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 teaspoons whole milk
- For the Salted Caramel Sauce:
- 2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons fine salt
- For the Salted Caramel Frosting:
- 2 cups (1lbs) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- Salted Caramel Sauce (recipe precedes)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans, set aside.
- Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat sugar and oil until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing until well incorporated.
- In a spouted measuring cup whisk milk and vanilla.
- With the mixer’s speed on low, add the dry in three batches alternately with the wet mixture in two batches, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl down.
- Divide batter between prepared pans and bake for 30 to 33 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. Let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Spread cubed bread onto baking sheet. Bake, tossing occasionally until dry but not browned, about 15 minutes. Allow bread to cool. Reserve 2 cups of dried bread from the rest of the batch.
- Prepare an 8-inch cake pan with bake spray, set aside.
- In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar with brown sugar, set aside.
- Whisk egg yolks with remaining ¾ cup granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add in milk and cream.
- Gently add in remaining cooled bread, tossing to coat. Pour mixture in prepared cake pan and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spread reserved bread cubes over the soaked bread mixture and gently press into the custard. Brush top of breading pudding with melted butter and sprinkle reserved sugar mixture.
- Bake for 55 to 65 minutes until the outside of the bread pudding sets and the center of the breading pudding reads 170 degrees F. Remove from oven, let cool. Place cake pan in the refrigerator overnight. Use a knife to separate the breading pudding from the cake pan. Press the bread pudding with paper towels to remove the moisture. Place bread pudding, bottom side up on a wire rack set in a baking sheet in the refrigerator and let the breading pudding air dry for 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- In a medium sized bowl combine flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt.
- Pour in melted butter and vanilla. Use a fork (or better yet, your hands) to gently combine until crumb cake-like crumbs begin to form. If the mixture is looking and feeling too dry add milk a teaspoon at a time. Transfer to an air tight container and refrigerate until the assembly.
- in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan combine brown sugar, heavy cream, and butter. Set saucepan over medium heat. Whisk occasionally until butter melts and the whole mixture combines, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes stir in vanilla and salt, let cool completely. It can be made head of time and stores in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
- Fit a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and beat butter on medium-high speed until smooth and pale, about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl down. With mixer it’s lowest speed, gradually add the powdered sugar alternately with heavy cream. With the mixer still on low, drizzle in cooled salted caramel sauce. Scrape the bowl and paddle as needed. Add vanilla and salt. Raise speed to medium-high and beat until airy and fluffy about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Remove breading pudding from refrigerator and spot dry with a paper towel.
- Dollop a bit of frosting onto a cake board. Secure first Yellow Cake layer. Apply Salted Caramel Frosting, sprinkle on Salty Sweet Crumbles, and press crumbles into frosting.
- Carefully stack the bread pudding on top. Apply frosting, followed by crumbles, and press crumbles into frosting. Top with final Yellow Cake layer.
- If any of the Bread Pudding is stick out, use a knife to cut it away to create even lines. Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. Do a crumb coat with the Salted Caramel Frosting. Chill for 15 minutes. Apply a final, thicker layer of frosting and decorate the top and sides as desired.