Chocolate-Covered Candy Corn Layer Cake

Ingredients

• For cake:
• 7 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups milk, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 18 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes, softened
• 3 tablespoons butter flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon yellow food coloring
• 3/4 teaspoon orange food coloring
• 1/4 teaspoon terra cotta food coloring
• For frosting:
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon butter flavoring, or to taste
• For ganache:
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• Candy corn to garnish cake

Directions

1. For the cake, move the oven rack to the center and heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut parchment to fit 3 8- by 2-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms, and grease the pans. In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites, 1/2 cup milk, and vanilla, then put that mixture aside. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Blend on low until everything is evenly mixed, about 1 minute. Drop in the butter and continue on low only until the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour in the remaining 1 cup milk and mix until incorporated.
2. Turn the mixer up to medium-high and beat the batter until it looks airy and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Bring the speed back down to low and add the egg white mixture you set aside, mixing just until it disappears into the batter. Mix in the butter flavoring.
3. Split the batter equally among three bowls. Tint one bowl with yellow food coloring until the batter is a vivid yellow. Tint another bowl with both orange and terra cotta food coloring until the color is a rich, deep orange.
4. Transfer the batters to the prepared pans, smoothing them into even layers, and bake until the cakes are just set and a toothpick poked into the middle comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool the cakes in their pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack and let them cool all the way, about an hour.
5. For the frosting, put the butter, confectioners' sugar, milk, and butter flavoring in a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium until the frosting is pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Adjust the butter flavoring to taste.
6. To build the cake, set the yellow layer on an 8-inch plate and cover it with about 1/2 cup frosting. Add the orange layer and spread another about 1/2 cup frosting over it. Set the white layer on top. Use the rest of the frosting to patch and smooth any spaces around the sides.
7. For the ganache, combine the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl placed over a pan of water that is just barely simmering. Whisk gently until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool it for a short time, just until it will pour cleanly but is not so loose that it runs everywhere.
8. Set the cake, still on its plate, on a wire rack placed inside a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the ganache over the cake, allowing it to flow over the edges and down the sides. Refrigerate until the ganache firms up, about 20 minutes. Decorate the top with candy corn.