Calling all cowboys and wild west enthusiasts! You’ll be inspired to hitch up a horse and herd some cattle after eating a slice of this cake! This Cowboy Sourdough Cake will transport you to a Western chuck wagon. Old fashioned with classic thick two layers of cake, the flavors are indicative of sourdough biscuits. The tangy taste comes from sour dough starter and a secret ingredient. Finished cookie biscuit Swiss meringue buttercream and loopy lasso blue ribbon frosting, this Cowboy Sourdough Cake is a vacation out west.
Sourdough biscuits are far from San Francisco’s iconic sourdough bread. Sourdough biscuits are regionally specific to Eastern New Mexico and West Texas.
On the trail, sourdough biscuits were pillars in cowboy meals. A cook’s skills were contingent on his ability to make good sourdough biscuits. Similar a bread starter, sourdough biscuits’ starter was fermented in a sealed jar. Each day the chuck wagon cook would scoop out a heaping portion of the starter and feed the remaining portion fermenting loveliness with flour. For baking, the cook would form a lose dough and fry dollops of it in a shallow pool of oil.
There was certainly a grading scale for sourdough biscuits. Bad sourdough biscuits were leaden and heavy, while good version were described as light, fluffy, and had a discernible tang.
Compared to the sourdough biscuits, Cowboy Sourdough Cake is also light and tangy. I used King Arthur’s instructions for sourdough bread starter.
In order to highlight the tanginess of the fermented sour dough starter, I paired the fermented sourdough starter with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese. I know it sounds weird to add a savory sharp cheese like Parmesan, but the cheese takes the supporting role. In terms of structure, I chose to use a combination of butter (for structure) and oil (for moisture). I also used the traditional all-purpose flour for a good bite.
I didn’t want too many competing flavors in this cake, so I paired the Sourdough Cake base with a cookie butter Swiss meringue buttercream. Cookie butter SMB has is subtle and silky on the mouth but has the needed rusticity to compliment the Cowboy Sourdough Cake. The slightly acidic sourdough starter works in tandem with the cookie butter’s flavors of cinnamon and brown sugar.
Cowboy Sourdough Cake is a tribute to the old western chuck wagon, which would be stocked with jars of dried beans and cans of coffee. Chuck wagon food had to be wonderfully satisfying. Cowboys liked their meals piping hot and their food stripped of frills. This classic two layer cake is certainly a no-frills classic. Pair it with a tin of strong brewed black coffee, you can go out west to some long dissipated Wild West world.
- For the Cowboy Sourdough Cake:
- 1 cup of fed sourdough starter
- 1 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- For the Cookie Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons egg whites
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks, 12 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into cubes
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup (4 ounces) cookie butter
- For the Blue Lasso Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 to 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- Blue gel food coloring
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the fed sourdough starter, buttermilk, and all-purpose flour. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let the mixture sit at room temperature until it has expanded a little bit, about 2 to 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 8-inch cake pans with baking spray, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter at a medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 to 4 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the oil and mixture until blended. On a low speed mix in the Parmesan, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. The mixture will look a bit granular. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Using a rubber spatula, slowly and gently add the wet mixture in the starter-flour-milk mixture. Stir until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick in the center comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes before turning them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Put the egg whites in a stand mixer’s bowl laying above water simmering in a small sauce pot, creating a double boiler. The bowl should not have contact with the water below. Lightly whisk the egg whites and sugar until a thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Fit the bowl to the stand mixer.
- Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg white mixture on a medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 8 to 10 minutes. At this point the mixer’s bowl should have cooled down to room temperature. Switch the whisk to the paddle attachment.
- Turn the mixer back on, this time to a low speed. Add the butter, a few tablespoons at a time, followed by the vanilla. Once added, raise the speed to a medium-high speed and beat until silky, smooth, and lump free, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the cookie butter and beat until incorporated.
- Put the cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on a medium-high speed until pale in color and lump free. Add the vanilla and then scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- With the mixer’s speed on low, slowly add the powdered sugar, scraping the bowl as needed. Beat again on a medium-high speed for a final 1 to 2 minutes. Add the blue gel until the desired shade is reached.
- If the cake layers have domes, use a serrated knife to level off the tops. Put a dollop of frosting on the cake board. Place one layer on, spread on the Blue Lasso Frosting, and then put on the second cake layer. Use an offset spatula to cover the cake with a dirty layer of the Cookie Butter SMB. Place the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes. Apply a second thicker layer of the Cookie Butter SMB. Chill again for another 15 minutes. Put the Blue Lasso Frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a shell tip. Pipe borders on the top and bottom of the cake.