The Absolute Best Birthday Cake of All Time Ever

My family is not one that has a ton of traditions that we absolutely must adhere to every time a holiday rolls around, but there are several that are absolutely non-negotiable: my mom and dad's stuffing at Thanksgiving, setting up Dickens village at Christmas, and making my dad this incredible penuche cake for his birthday.  Now I know that my blog is usually meant for healthy recipes, but I need to say that not only is this not at all healthy, it is also not for the weak.  A legit sweet tooth is an absolute requirement.

I should probably mention that I accidentally quadrupled the frosting for this cake, so all the pictures you see have twice as much as they should.  We double this recipe from the original that we have from my grandmother!  Melt one and a half sticks of butter in a sauce pan.  Then add 2 cups of packed brown sugar (dark or light is your preference).

Bring to a boil and keep it boiling for 2 minutes.  Stir constantly.

Add a half of a cup of whole milk (don't cheat and use skim ladies and gentlemen, there's no need when you are using a half of a pound of butter).  Bring back up to a boil stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.  Sift four cups of confectioner sugar.  When the butter-sugar-milk is luke warm begin to spoon some of the sugar into the pot and whisk to blend.

Sifting the sugar before adding really helps this process because there are way less lumps to whisk out.

The result is a sugar coma.  It's pure bliss.  Then all that's left is frosting the cake and licking the pot clean.  Make sure you frost immediately because the frosting will harden as it cools and it's very difficult to spread.  If this happens add a little bit of hot water until it smooths out again.

I always make a Devil's Food cake because that's what my dad had when he grew up.  You can do whatever you like, but whatever you choose, make sure you have vanilla ice cream to accompany it because you need ice cream with this cake.  Everyone always helps out to make this cake and we have a blast doing it!

Happy Birthday Dad!

This is my favorite cake ever.  I love making it with my family and I love eating it once a year to celebrate my Dad's birthday.  It's not very hard to make, but it's absolutely incredible.  It's also not a very common recipe anymore, but that makes me happy too.  What are your favorite family recipes and traditions?

Penuche Icing

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

2 cups packed brown sugar (I use 1 cup light and 1 cup dark)

1/2 cup whole milk

4 cups sifted confectioner sugar