Sea Turtle Cake

This is my own recipe, a variation on the classic 'turtle' candies, that combine pecans, chocolate, and caramel. Here, macadamia nuts and white chocolate are used instead, and the filling is designed to ooze caramel when the cake is cut.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

Arrange two racks in the center of oven, and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour two 8-by-2-inch buttered cake pans.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Cream butter at medium speed until softened, 1 to 2 minutes.
Gradually add sugar, and continue until lightened, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides once or twice.
Gradually add eggs, beating after each addition until batter is no longer slick, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides, about 5 minutes.
Slowly add the flour mixture on low speed, alternating with buttermilk, a little of each at a time, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat in vanilla.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.
Bake for 25 minutes; until a fork inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, 10 to 20 minutes more.
Transfer to wire racks to cool, 15 minutes.

Making caramel involves melting sugar, which does require some care.

***The liquefied sugar will be hotter than boiling water; do not touch it! Do not allow children to help with this step!***

***Be aware that sugar burns easily, so make sure that you do not leave it unattended. Have all the ingredients ready and within arms reach before turning on the heat. ***

***the mixture will foam up when butter and cream are added, so make sure you use a pan that is at least 2-3 quarts***

Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan.
As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon.
As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on.
As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.
Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add 1/2 cup of the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate.
Whisk until caramel is smooth and allow to cool.
In a separate saucepan, pour 2 teaspoons; sprinkle gelatin over.
Let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes.
Stir over low heat just until gelatin dissolves.
Beat chilled whipping cream and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar in large bowl until firm peaks form.
Beat in gelatin mixture.Carefully fold half of caramel mixture into gelatin mixture. Reserve the other half as sauce.

decorating

Slice cakes in half horizontally, creating four layers.
Select a plate, cake stand, or cardboard round to build the cake on. place strips of wax paper or tin foil on the plate, so that the cake will rest on them, but so that they will be easy to slide out later; this will protect the surface from frosting. Place a little frosting in the middle of the surface; this will cement the cake to it and keep it from sliding in transit.
Place the first layer of cake on the plate. Form a ring of frosting around the perimeter; this will be a wall to contain the filling. (Use a bag or cookie press if you have one. Otherwise, build up a wall with a knife.)
Spread a third of the filling within the wall. Pour about a third of the caramel sauce on top, being careful not to let it overflow.
Place the second layer on top, pressing very gently around the edges to seal and filling any cracks with more frosting.
Repeat these steps with the second and third layer. When the fourth layer is placed on top, you may wish to refrigerate the cake for an hour or two, to firm up the filling, so that frosting it will be easier.
Frost cake with remaining white chocolate frosting.