Maryland's State Dessert

So I know States have the "State Bird", "State Flower", "State Animal", etc. But I had no idea that there was such a thing as a "State Dessert". This past weekend here in Baltimore was the famous Preakness Horse Races. The weather wasn't supposed to be great so we decided against attending and a friend hosted a Preakness Party. The theme was "Maryland". So everything to eat and drink was somehow Maryland themed...since I had made a few desserts in the past they deemed me in charge of the dessert, which I later  learned meant I had to make the State Dessert - Smith Island Cake. It was a long process but will admit I had fun making it. And because it actually turned out the way it was supposed to I thought I would share it.

 Ingredients for the Cake:
24 Tbsp of unsalted butter
3.5 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp vanilla (but a certain someone has taught me to always double this!)
2 cups milk
6 eggs

Ingredients for the Icing:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour four 9" cake pans

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Whisk together butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs in another bowl. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and whisk together until combined. Let batter sit for 15 minutes. Stir again until smooth and then divide among first 4 pans leaving enough for 4 more layers. (be sure to spin pan around and tilt until entire bottom of each pan is covered)

Bake cakes, rotating half way through cooking time, about 15 min total. 

Someone enjoyed the batter...

Let cakes cool for about 20 minutes in the pan and then invert onto wire racks to cool completely. 

Once I had baked and cooled all 8 layers, just to be sure I stacked them with wax paper in between to let cool overnight. 

The next morning I started on the icing by chopping up the unsweetened chocolate. (I couldn't find unsweetened chips like the semisweet choc chips)

Bring both chocolates, sugar, milk, and butter to a boil over med-high heat. 

Stirring often until sugar dissolves, chocolate melts, and mixture is shiny and smooth - about 8 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla. Let icing sit about 30 minutes to thicken before spreading. 

Then the fun begins...start with each layer and spread the icing on top of each layer. But remember to ration out enough for each layer and then to cover the top and sides.

Once all 8 layers are assembled, chill in fridge to set the icing between each layer. 

Then top the cake with icing and spread all that is left over the sides and top to give it a good coating.

Let icing cool before serving - I stuck it back in the fridge for about 30 min before transporting it to the party. 

The inside after about 1/2 the cake had been eaten

So, the verdict from the native Marylanders was that it tasted just like it was supposed to. And come to find out people buy these things for $80! My opinion was the cake part had the texture of cornbread which was odd to me, but that seems to be what makes this cake a little more different than just a normal yellow cake. If I were to make it again I'd use more of a yellow cake mix with the same icing. I could've eaten a bowl of the icing (and definitely had my fair share after spreading it on the cake!)