Batman Birthday Cake

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment rounds, and /or grease with non-stick or baker’s floured cooking spray.
• Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined.
• Mix chunks of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
• Pour in eggs and mix on low until just incorporated.  Mix in the buttermilk in two parts on low speed. Add in vanilla and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
• Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
• Bake for 35-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans – it helps to run an offset spatula or knife around the perimeter of the pan first. Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
• This part is optional, but once the layers have fully cooled, the caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming. If you try to trim the layers while they’re still warm, they will crumble and break.

Frosting

• Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well combined. Stir in food color.
• Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed/desired). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle.
• Spread the layer with frosting. (Optional, but you can add a sprinkle of chocolate chips and a drizzle of chocolate ganache if you’re feeling fancy! If you fill the cake with chocolate, pipe a small 'dam' of yellow frosting to make sure the chocolate doesn't discolor the outside of the cake.)
• Add your next cake layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
• Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
• Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and cake scraper / pastry cutter for this part. Once your cake is covered, place it into the fridge or freezer to set the frosting.

The fun part! Decorations!

• Fondant can be purchased, or it’s less expensive and not too difficult to make your own! Note though – I recommend making this fondant a day or two ahead of time; it tears much more easily if used too soon.
• Whether you make or buy your fondant, here are Links to the images I used for templates – the Batman Logo:  ( https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/docs/batman_logo0.png ) and Batman City Skyline: ( https://www.pinterest.com/pin/51228514486009837/ )
• I started by pasting the images above into a photo editor, printing them in a couple of sizes, and then cutting out the sizes I liked best after holding them against the cake.
• Using the paper outline as a guide, cut out the black Batman logo and the city skyline shapes (I did this in a few different sections to make it easier to transfer!) I also cut out the oval black ring around the Batman logo -  since it's fairly thin, I found it easiest to place the paper on top of the cake, position the fondant over the paper, and remove the paper from underneath the fondant to make sure it kept its oval shape.
• Wet a small brush (you could use a basting brush; I used a new craft foam paintbrush) and dampen the top and sides of the cake slightly to help adhere the fondant. Once the logo and skyline shapes are in place, you can use the same brush to clean any excess powdered sugar off.
• With a small piping bag (and I used the same paper images as a template) pipe yellow frosting onto your city skyline to make the building windows. I made the mistake of doing some piping before transferring the buildings to the cake, and ended up scraping most of it off to do over. :/ I highly recommend you save yourself that particular headache and do the piping after the transfer to the cake!
• This drip is 100% optional – you could run the skyline around the entire cake border – but I opted to make a black ‘cake cape’ with black chocolate ganache.

  Ganache: place 6oz chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Add 6oz whipping cream and microwave on half power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Stir in black food color.

  Cool to a moderate temperature – it should feel slightly warm and still be fairly liquid. Transfer it to a squeeze bottle or piping bag. A spoon will work if you don’t have either of those, I've  just found spoons to be a little bit more difficult to work with.

  Slowly drizzle ganache around the upper edge of the back half of your cake, pausing every inch or so to let more ganache fall in a drip down the side. Return cake to the fridge or freezer to set the drips.
• And that’s it – congratulations on your kick-butt Batman Cake!