Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch cake pans and two six-inch cake pans with baker's floured cooking spray, or grease and line with parchment rounds.

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 installments, on a low speed. Add in vanilla extract 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 – I ended up with about 690g in my large pans and about 450 in my smaller ones). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.

Bake for 34-37 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 . Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.

Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any 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 apart. (While you’re waiting…make your frosting!)

Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with flavor extract and whipping cream until frosting reaches a spreadable / pipeable consistency. Add salt if needed and any food coloring if desired and beat until well combined.

Place a smear of frosting on your large cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your large first cake layer in the center of the circle.

Spread the layer with frosting, and center the next layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining 8” cake layers.

Next, repeat the same process with your smaller cardboard circle and cake layers. Of note – if your circles aren’t pre-center-punched, be sure to grab a dowel or straw and make your own hole in the exact center of the circle! This will allow you to center the tier on the base tier later on.

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.

Place both tiers into the freezer for about 20 minutes to set the frosting and get the cake cold enough to set the white chocolate ganache decoration.

(This is a great time to make your ganache for the drip, but I’ll include instructions for stacking your tiers first. Ganache recipe is below!)

Once the drips have set, pour some lustre dust & water or some gold paint into a small glass or container (I used a shot glass). Use your paintbrush and cover the white drips with gold.

Place your cake topper on top – and step back and admire your amaaazing cake! Enjoy!