so happy i was able to find this back- forgot which cake recipes i used!
We made a classic white cake (with a bit of almond flavour) and filled it with fresh raspberries and jam, and covered with a white chocolate buttercream. It was a big success! It is a basic recipe, but I made 1.5 the cake recipe to bake 2 layers a bit higher, then cut each in half with a Wilton cake leveler. with 4 rounds, the effect was a bit more dramatic, but no reason why it can be made as a basic 2 layer cake too!
Here are some pics, the recipe to follow.
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CAKE - I went to "the bible" - cooks illustrated "baking illustrated" cookbook. I love CI as much as supa does!
heat oven to 350º. grease 2 9inch cake pans, cover bottoms with parchment paper, grease and flour. set aside.
pour milk, egg whites, and extracts in a big measuring cup and mix with a fork till blended.
mix flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. add the butter (cut into smallish pieces) and beat until mixture resembles small crumbs. add all but 1/2 of the liquid milk mixture, and beat at high speed for 1.5 minutes. add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat for 30 seconds. scrape the sides of the bowl and beat for 20 seconds.
pour batter evenly into 2 pans. bake till a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 23-25 minutes.
cool 3 minutes in pan, then turn onto racks. cool completely, about 1.5 hours. (at this point, I evened the tops with the wilton gadget, sliced them in half into thinner layers, then wrapped them in wax paper and foil and froze - they can be made a few weeks ahead! )
BUTTERCREAM - this recipe may look intimidating, but it really is easy and the result is fabulous. a candy thermometer does help, but if you dont have one its not the end of the world. mine took me about 5 minutes to wisk. be sure the sugar is all melted for a smooth result.
Makes about 8 cups. 8 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker’s), chopped 1/2 cup whipping cream 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup egg whites (about 8) 2 1/4 cups sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Stir white chocolate and cream in heavy small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to room temperature. Using electric mixer, beat butter in medium bowl until fluffy; set aside.
Combine whites and sugar in large metal bowl. Set bowl over large saucepan of simmering water (do not let bottom of bowl touch water). Whisk until sugar dissolves and thermometer inserted into whites registers 160°F, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Using clean dry beaters, beat meringue until cool, stiff and shiny, about 10 minutes.
Beat butter, about 1/4 cup at a time, into meringue, blending well after each addition. If frosting looks curdled, place bowl over very low heat for 3 to 5 seconds to soften slightly. Remove from heat and beat until smooth. Repeat warming technique as necessary. Gradually beat in cooled white chocolate mixture, then vanilla extract. Chill buttercream until beginning to firm, about 30 minutes. (mine took about an hour!)
To assemble cake - ice as a normal cake. If you want to add raspberries or strawberries as I did, it is easy too. depending on how many layers you have you can either spread a layer of jam (as I did for 1 and 3 layers), or spread some frosting and cover with fresh rasp. or cut strawberries, and cover with another cake layer (as I did for the middle layer).
I iced the cake one day in advance and put it in the fridge and took it out about 3 hours before it was going to be served.
I'm so glad you found this, too, because it was here when I was looking for it.
Question -- do you think you could make the frosting in advance?
TIA!
Megan will surely have an answer for you about this specific buttercream, since she has made it, but every buttercream I have made, you can easily do in advance. It will set up and get hard in the fridge, so you have to let it sit out a while before using it, but aside from that, usually buttercreams are fine to make ahead.
That said, again, I have not made this one, and I don't know the consistency of it with the egg whites and all.
Good luck!! Are you making this for birthdays? Post pics!!
Yes, it's for Jibs b-day party Saturday. We leave 48 hours later for Omaha for a 3+ week trip, and the party is at our house (her request, not my preference), so I'm an absolute mess ATM.
Which is why I'm trying to get as much done right now as I can.
i use plain rasp preserves. if you can fine seedless thats nice too, but not necessary.
i do "mix it up" at first with a fork so its not clumpy and easier to spread. give a few vigorous mixes.
also, for the fresh rasp/ buttercream layer - when i do that layer again i will gently half or even quarter the raspberries if they are big - because i used the whole rasps. and they were huge and it took a lot of buttercream to go around them - so that frosting layer ended up being quite thick (you can see in the pics above)
So, I didn't end up filling it... but here it is. :)
I'm pretty happy with it (at least the side in the pic, LOL), except I was an idiot and wrapped the cake board in tissue paper. Couldn't have been a worse choice... it's picking up all the fat from the frosting. Whoops.
So, I didn't end up filling it... but here it is. :)
I'm pretty happy with it (at least the side in the pic, LOL), except I was an idiot and wrapped the cake board in tissue paper. Couldn't have been a worse choice... it's picking up all the fat from the frosting. Whoops.
)
