- Welcome back, y'all. (people clap)
I'm ready to get my sweet tooth satisfied,
and my next guest is a great friend of the show,
and she is back.
From Cake by Courtney,
please welcome Courtney Rich, everybody.
(people clap and cheer)
All right, so, Courtney,
what do you have in store for us today?
- All right, well, I mean,
of course, we're celebrating National Popcorn Day today,
and any food day, right,
that comes along our way.
- [Kelly] Yes.
- So we're gonna bake a caramel popcorn cake.
We're taking my caramel cake,
and we're gonna put a little twist on it,
and celebrate this great day of popcorn,
add a bunch of caramel corn.
So, you've got a lot of stuff
right in front of you, right, Kelly?
You've got your cake ready to go?
- Yes, I am so ready.
What's first?
- All right, so, beforehand,
there's a little prep that we already did,
is, we took two of our cake layers,
and we took, like, a little two-inch cookie cutter,
and we cut holes into the cake layers,
so just the first two.
Now, we have this nice opening
that we're gonna fill with caramel and popcorn,
so this becomes just a really fun surprise
when we cut into the cake later.
- Okay, wait, so we take the caramel?
- Yeah, grab your car-mel.
- Or car-mel, caramel. - Or caramel.
- Which one?
Shoot, I don't know. - To-may-to, to-mah-to.
Yep. (Kelly laughs)
So we're gonna use that,
and we're gonna pour in a little bit of our caramel.
- Like how much?
- [Courtney] I would say, like, halfway full.
No, this is gonna be a ton of caramel, Kelly.
- Yes. - This is a ton,
so put about halfway full of the caramel,
and then grab your popcorn.
You can do plain popcorn
'cause we're gonna be covering it
with a ton of more caramel, or you can add-
- [Kelly] And you just put it in the hole?
- Some of your caramel corn.
Yep, you don't need a ton
because we really want the caramel to spill out.
So, pour more of that caramel on top.
- I love this, okay. - And you're basically
gonna get (laughs) right?
This is gonna be a yummy cake.
And then, once you've got enough, like, popcorn
and caramel to the top,
we're just going to then take,
you've got one more cake layer that we've gotta use,
and you're gonna turn that upside down
so our smooth side is on top,
and then that gives you the base, and you're ready to go.
So, we're gonna fast forward,
and switch out this cake for the one
that has already been frosted.
So I'm gonna grab mine.
- I'm just celebrating that we're moving on
to a different cake.
Guys, it was celebratory.
Is it time to decorate it now?
- Yeah, so grab your piping bag.
We just have a star tip in our piping bag,
and then make sure we're holding it the right way.
So, you always twist at the top,
lock it with your thumb,
and then apply pressure with your forefingers here.
We're gonna do a swirl.
So I've got my cake kinda already designed here.
You could do whatever you want,
but I'm gonna kinda create, like, a crown
around the top of the cake
by making these, like, counterclockwise circles.
- [Kelly] Okay.
- At an angle, and just overlap them,
just a little circle, circle, circle,
and we can go around this whole cake.
And then we have all this yummy caramel popcorn
that we can use to fill the top of it too
to just kinda give it a little extra pizazz
there at the top.
- Okay. - Oh, this caramel buttercream
is to die for.
It's a little salty too.
Do you like salt with your sweets, Kelly?
- Do you know me at all?
Yes.
(Courtney laughs)
(people laugh)
- [Courtney] I thought so.
- I'm gonna be honest with you,
I'm kinda nailing this little,
like, I've missed my, I mean, what?
Okay, wait, so do you do the middle?
- Oh my gosh.
- Oh, you did two layers?
- No, I just did one,
big, round circle. - Oh, okay,
mine's slightly smaller, okay.
- Yes, it looks so good.
Kelly, I feel like we've made a lot of progress
with your cake decorating.
- I am in agreement.
I think I'm kind of nailing it today.
Do you fill it up on top?
- Yes, load it up with the popcorn.
Look how pretty that is. - Woo!
- [Courtney] Right?
- Yes. - Right?
Okay.
(Courtney laughs)
That is it, yes.
Okay, this is a celebration cake.
- Okay, do we get to try it?
- [Courtney] Of course we do.
We're gonna totally cut into this.
I'm gonna move things around.
All right, cut, get a big knife, and let's see.
You'll be able to see it on your camera better,
but we're gonna get a big slice out.
Let me grab my plate. - Oh, that's sturdy.
(Courtney laughs)
- All right, let's see if we can see
all this caramel spill out
from the center of our cake.
- Okay.
- [Courtney] Look at that,
do you see that's just coming out?
Let's see yours, how's it going, how's it going?
(Kelly shouts)
Moment of truth.
- Oh, I left half of it.
Wait, hold on.
Oh, no, I did it.
That's amazing.
That's so cute.
Wait, I wanna try it.
Okay, wait, here we go, here we go.
- [Courtney] Big bite, eat together.
- Girl, that's moist, that is so good.
That is so good, Courtney.
Thank you so much, Courtney.
We love having you here.
And for more of Courtney's recipes,
check her out on Instagram @cakebycourtney,
and be sure to listen to her "Beyond the Cake" podcast.