It was Adams birthday this week, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he couldn’t really decide, this recipe popped up in my google reader early on in the week and I showed him the picture, he instantly wanted it. He said “You know if you could do strawberrys instead that would be awesome.” Well since it was his birthday and I all I decided I better use strawberries instead.
This cake was AMAZING, I am normally not impressed with my homemade cakes as they feel too dense and heavy. This one was far from that it was nice light and very spring/summer feeling. DELICIOUS!!!! Although the orginally recipe called to double the frosting I didn’t I used about 1 1/4 recipe and it was plenty. Please try this recipe soon, really soon!
Strawberry Curd (From: Baking Bites)
- 15-oz. fresh strawberries, stems removed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 5 tsp cornstarch
Combine strawberries and sugar in a food processor and whizz until very smooth.
Whisk together lime juice and cornstarch in a small bowl and add to strawberry mixture. Puree until mixture is as smooth as possible, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Strain mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until it comes just to a boil. Stir very frequently.
Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly, until somewhat thickened. Strain again into a heatproof container and let cool to room temperature.
Store in the refrigerator until cold before serving.
Lemon Cake (From: Beantown Baker)
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting the pans
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
- 6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp table salt
- 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool
Set oven rack in middle position. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour.
Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add cake flour, baking powder, and salt to mixer bowl and mix at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium speed and beat 20 seconds longer.
Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.
Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
Buttercream Frosting (From: Beantown Baker, Orginally From The Way the Cookie Crumbles)
- 20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups Confectioners’ sugar (10 ounces)
- 1/8 tablespoons table salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.
Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds.
Scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.
Assembling the cake
Once cake layers have completely cooled, use a large serated knife to slice each layer in half horizontally.
Scoop about a cup of frosting into a piping bag with a large round tip (you can also use a ziplock bag and snip off the corner. I wouldn’t recommend doing that if you are piping swirls on top of cupcakes, but in this situation, it’s ok. No one will see what you’re piping).
Place strips of waxes paper around the plate or cake disk that you will be using for the cake. Pipe a small amount of frosting onto the center of your cake disk. This will serve as glue to hold the cake in place.
Place your first layer of cake, cut side up, on the disk. Pipe a thick ring around the edge of the cake. This will serve as a dam to keep the filling in the cake and prevent the layers from sliding around.
Spread ~1/3 to 1/2 cup of strawberry curd onto the cake. Add the top half of that cake and repeat. Add the bottom half of the other cake, cut side up again, and repeat. Place the top layer on the cake.
Apply a very thin layer of frosting on the cake. This will serve as a crumb coat and will help the final frosting to be smooth. Chill the cake for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Frost the rest of the cake after chilling.
Happy 28th Birthday Babe!
