Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Maple Frosting

I am extremely excited to say that The Cake Slice Bakers is baking from a new book starting this month. The chosen book for the next twelve months is The Cake Book by Tish Boyle . I am sure some of you have heard of her before and if you have not you may want to check out her website . She is an amazing baker and has written a few books covering both cakes and cookies.



Each month a few recipes will be posted for voting and the most number of votes received for any cake recipe will be the choice bake for that month. To kick start our first cake from "The Cake Book" is a delicious Apple Cake which is full of apple chunks and walnuts. For some of you who are now experiencing fall, this recipe is so in tune with the season. When I was baking this cake my entire kitchen was filled with the smell of cinnamon and spices. It is such a delicious feeling and I could not wait to get the cake out of the oven to try a piece of it. I used a square cake pan to bake the cake and then used 3" cutter rings to cut out individual servings. These were frosting and then decorated with a sugarpaste rose on each small cake. Just wanted to give this cake an extra special touch!



Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Maple Frosting
Recipe Adapted from "The Cake Book by Tish Boyle"
Makes One 9" Cake Serving 12

Ingredients for the Cake:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
113g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup loosely packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups peeled and chopped (1/2" pieces) Granny Smith apples (about 2 apples)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Method for the Cake:

1) Preheat oven to 350F and position rack in center of the oven. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9" square cake pan with parchment paper.

2) In a bowl add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda and salt. Whisk together and set aside.

3) In another bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light and creamy for about 3 - 4 minutes. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrap down the sides of the bowl.

4) Then add in the flour in 3 separate additions alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions. Mix until blended (do not overmix though).

5) Finally add in the apples and walnuts. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.

6) Cool cake completely before adding the frosting.

Maple Cheese Maple Frosting

170g cream cheese, softened
42g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp maple syrup
1 cup icing sugar sifted
Pinch of salt

Method:

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in the other ingredients and continue to beat until light and creamy. Place in fridge for about 30 minutes to harden slightly before frosting on the cake.

Stout and Chocolate Snacking Cake with Chocolate Stout Glaze

We have a free hand this particular month with Cake Slice Bakers September challenge as it is the last cake we would be baking from "Cake Keepers Cake by Laura Chattman". Save to say that there will definitely be a variety of recipes being blogged. Next month the Group will be revealing a new book, our third todate, to bake from for the next coming twelve months.

Unfortunately I don't have a copy of "Cake Keepers Cakes" book and had to search the internet for whatever recipes that have been published from this book. I came across a few and decided to bake a chocolate cake which uses stout. Actually using stout in a cake is not new to me as I had made Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes when I first started blogging. The stout really enhances the cocoa in this particular recipe and it gave the cake an intense chocolate colour. The glaze is simply to die for and I can only say that this is definitely a keepsake recipe and also no creaming is involved. What more could I ask for!



Stout and Chocolate Snacking Cake with Chocolate-Stout Glaze
Recipe Adapted from "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman

Ingredients for the Cake

1/2 cup stout, such as Guinness
112g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
6 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup light sour cream

Ingredients for the Chocolate Stout Glaze:

1/4 cup stout
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Method for the Cake:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and dust it with flour, knocking out any extra.

2) Combine the stout and butter in a saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder and cinnamon until smooth. Set aside to cool.

3) Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. With a wooden spoon or electric mixer, stir in the stout mixture, egg, and sour cream until just combined. It's okay if there are still a few lumps in the batter.

4) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely in the pan.

To Make the Glaze:

1) Combine the stout and corn syrup in a small, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate until shiny and smooth. Let cool to warm room temperature and spread the sauce over the top of the cake. Let stand until the sauce is set, about 1 hour. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

2) Store uneaten squares in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Zebra Cake - The Cake Slice Bakers Cake of the Month!

It has been close to almost 10 months now since I last baked with The Cake Slice Bakers group. When the winning recipe this month chosen by it's members (more than half picked this one) was announced, I was extremely keen to join in again. Why so? It was a Zebra Cake! I have seen what this cake looks like in photos, absolutely gorgeous it's design, but have never tried making it or even tasted one before.

The original recipe had only two colours i.e. vanilla and chocolate. Well, me being me, decided to try something different ... be a bit bolder by adding stronger colours. So I darken the chocolate batter with black food colour and added an additional stripe of colour, a bright red. I was extremely intrigued as to how the stripes were achieved so I did everything slowly to make sure that I did not read the instructions wrongly. As I started pouring the coloured batter on top of each other, I could not for the life of me figured out how the stripes could be formed. But as more batter was poured into the cake pan, the circular stripes started to appear. I loved doing this part and oohhed and ahhhed every time a circle was formed. I think my pet shitzu Milo must have thought his "mummy" had gone totally bonkers.



I must say that this cake is really a piece of art, truly lovely to look at. However taste-wise I thought it was alright! Much like a butter cake but somehow not quite as flavourful. However I don't mind making this again just to get a "kick" in watching the stripes come together.



Zebra Cake
Recipe Adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman
Makes one 9" round cake

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup whole or 2% milk
113g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp black food colouring
1 tsp red food colouring

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 inch pan, line with a circle of parchment paper, grease the parchment and dust with flour. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

2) Combine the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, stir in the milk, butter, oil and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary. Stir in the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time.

3) Divide the batter into 3 bowls - one larger bowl containing half of the batter and 2 smaller bowls containing 1/4 each of the batter.

4) In the larger bowl, add in 1 tsp of orange zest and mix into the batter.

5) In one of the smaller bowls, add in the remaining orange zest and red food colouring. Mix well.

6) In the second smaller bowl, sift in the cocoa powder and mix well into the batter. Then add in the black food colouring and stir until the batter is a uniform colour.

7) Place 3 tablespoons of vanilla batter into the centre of the pan and let it stand for a few seconds so it spreads out slightly. Then add in 1 1/2 tablespoon of the red batter in the middle of the pan and wait another few seconds until it spreads. After that add in 1 1/2 tablespoon of the cocoa batter in the middle of the pan and wait for a few seconds to allow it to spread.

8) Continue alternating the vanilla, red and cocoa batter until you have used up all the batter and it has spread to the edges of the pan.

9) Bake until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a cutting board. Peel away the parchment paper. Re-invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. Slice and serve.

10) Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for 3 days.

Shenandoah Valley Blueberry Cake

I was eagerly anticipating how this month's cake would turn out because it uses blueberries. That I have plenty of .. frozen ones .. in my freezer. What a great way to get rid of some of my cache from last summer! And guess what, summer is here again! Singapore really does not have summer or the four seasons for that fact. Hmmm ... come to think of it, we actually do have four season; hot and hotter, wet and wetter. I'm not joking.

Speaking of wet, we have a really bad thunderstorm on Wednesday morning. We had about 100mm of rainfall in less than 3 hours. The main shopping belt, Orchard Road, was flooded. Of my 20 years staying in Singapore I have never heard of Orchard Road being flooded .. never! I was totally glued to the
photos which were being posted in cyberspace. I watched over prime time news that evening and it reported that shops which operated in the basement of these affected buildings had a lot of their goods damaged and they are anticipating quite a set back in their busines. Vehicles which were stranded in the floods and stalled along Orchard Road, would have to have their entire engine overhauled and dried out. How lucky I was not to be working in that part of town!

I remembered last year in November we experienced similar floods. Some of the buildings' basement carparks in a residential district was entirely flooded. Cars that were parked there were totally submerged and I meant underwater. There was a relatively new Ferari parked in one of these buildings and I think the driver would have to pay at least $$300,000 or maybe more just to repair his vehicle. That's provided his Ferari could still run.



Before I ramble further, this particular blueberry cake may look simple but it was oh so delicious. It's extremely, extremely moist and light. Not as light as a sponge cake but not that far of in my books. I had at first thought of halfing the recipe but am glad that I did not. The batter was extremely thick and as I was using a handmixer, the blades were kind of groaning a bit. I had so anticipated a heavy and dry cake but on the contrary it was not. This is one recipe, in my books, is for keeps!

Shenandoah Valley Blueberry Cake
Recipe Adapted from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw and dust the blueberries with about 2 tablespoon of the flour mixture)

Method

1) Heat the oven to 375F and generously grease a 9 inch square or round pan.

2) Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and stir with a fork to mix well. In a medium bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat with a mixer at high speed until well combined. Add the egg and beat well for 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl until the mixture is smooth and light.

3) Stir in half the flour mixture then half the milk, mixing just enough to keep the batter fairly smooth and well combined. Add the remaining flour, then the rest of the milk, mixing gently. Stir in the blueberries. (Note that the batter is extremely thick and you will likely have to scrape the top so as to level out the cake batter)

4) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until the cake is golden, springs back when touched gently in the centre and is pulling away from the sides of the pan.

5) Serve a square of cake right from the pan, warm or at room temperature. If its round, let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for 10 minutes and then turn it out to cool, top side up.

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Who could say no to a banana cake with chocolate frosting? I think most of us would not pass this on and it was not surprising that it was a favourite vote for this month's baking challenge with the Cake Slice group.

For me a good banana cake uses very ripe bananas and nothing beats using the local Malaysian type which is called "pisang emas". Translated this means golden bananas. They are small and when ripe, are extremely, extremely sweet and flavourful. I had asked my hubby to buy a ripe bunch for me so that I could tackle the cake over Saturday. Unfortunately he bought one that was hardly ripe at all - it was still very green. So to ripen it, he left it hanging outside in the yard and that forced me to push my baking schedule to Sunday instead. Luckily by Sunday it was more or less ripe and I was able to use the fruit after all.

I halfed the recipe and baked it in a rectangle cake pan, thus achieving a slice cake version. In fact that had been my intention from the beginning. However I omitted using the chocolate frosting that came with the original recipe. I had some left over sour cream chocolate fudge frosting from another cake and I used the remaining of this frosting instead. Overall the cake was pretty nice and extremely soft.





Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

Ingredients for the Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk*
1½ cups mashed ripe banana

Chocolate Frosting

½ cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup evaporated milk or half-an-half
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

* If you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own by stirring 1½ teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice into ½ cup of milk and leaving for 10 minutes.

Method for the Cake:

1) Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to combine well.

2) In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and then the vanilla. Beat well for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally until you have a smooth batter.

3) Using a large spoon, stir in half the flour just until it disappears into the batter. Stir in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour the same way. Quickly and gently fold in the mashed banana and then divide the batter between the 2 cake pans.

4) Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the centre, and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

5) Cool for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks. Then turn out onto the racks to cool completely.

6) To make the frosting, combine the butter, cocoa and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring often for about 5 minutes, until the cocoa dissolves into a dark shiny essence. Remove from the heat and stir in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at low speed until you have a thick smooth frosting.

7) To complete the cake, place one layer, top side down, on a cake plate and spread about 1 cup of frosting evenly over the top. Cover with the second layer placed top side up. Spread the rest of the frosting evenly first over the sides and then covering the top of the cake.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

This month's Cake Slice challenge is a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Would you believe that I have not made this particular cake before or even had a slice of it? So you could say that I am somewhat disadvantaged in terms of how the end result would look or taste like. This particular cake is usually baked in an iron skillet. Without possessing an iron skillet or any skillet, I had to bake this cake in a normal cake tin. As usual I halfed the recipe.

This recipe is relatively easy to put together. However I have to say that I was not pleased with the end result at all. Although some of my fellow bakers at Cake Slice enjoyed it, I personally did not. The cake did smelled heavenly whilst baking and even after coming out of the oven. However the cake crumb was extremely heavy and tasted a bit gummy as well. It was also a bit too sweet in my opinion even though I had reduced the amount of sugar used. I really hate to confess that I did not even bother have a slice of it and if I don't like it, it's not being served to my office colleagues. This is one recipe that really "bombed" out for me!



Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Recipe from "Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott"

Pineapple Topping:

One 20-ounce can pineapple rings, with their syrup or juice
56g cold butter
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
10 maraschino cherries

For the Cake:

1 1/2cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
56g unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 350F.

To make the topping:

1) Drain the pineapple well, reserving 2 tablespoons of the juice or syrup for the cake batter. Melt the cold butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Or, put the butter in a 9inch round cake pan and put it in the oven for a few minutes as the heat melts the butter.

2) Remove the pan from the oven or stove and sprinkle the brown sugar over the buttery surface. Place the pineapple rings carefully on top of the scattered brown sugar and melted butter, arranging them so they fit in 1 layer. (You may have a few left over). Place a cherry in the centre of each ring, and set the pan aside.

To make the cake:

1) In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a fork to mix them together well. Add the milk and butter and beat well with a mixer, scraping down the bowl once or twice until you have a thick, fairly smooth batter, about 1 to 2 minutes.

2) Add the egg, reserved pineapple syrup or juice and the vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes more, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides.

3) Carefully pour the batter over the pineapple arranged in the skillet or cake pan and use a spoon to spread it evenly to the edges of the pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the cake is golden brown and springs back when touched lightly in the centre. Cool in the skillet or pan for 5 minutes on a wire rack.

4) With oven mitts, carefully turn out the warm cake onto a serving plate by placing the plate upside down over the cake in the pan and then flipping them over together to release the cake onto the plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Mississippi Mud Cake

I have to apologize to my other fellow Cake Slice Bakers for posting this challenge a day late. I had been thorough caught up with the recent Chinese New Year holidays and only managed to bake this cake last night.

Having read what had been posted in the Cake Slice Bakers forum, this cake would be extremely, extremely sweet if the original recipe was followed true and true. So having been forewarned, I went about reducing the recipe in half to a loaf size cake. In addition I also reduced the frosting and made only 1/3 of the recipe below. It was more than sufficient to frost the entire cake. In fact I wouldn't even call this a cake. To most of us who had baked it, the texture resembled more of a chocolate brownie - to be more precise a rocky road brownie. Even with the reduction of sugar which I had adapted I found this cake to be a tadd too sweet for my liking. Heh, I'm not a "sweet" girl, so you have to forgive me if I am to say that this is one recipe that I'm not bookmarking for future! One thing though, it was really, really easy to put together and I was done with this month's challenge in no time at all.



Mississippi Mud Cake
Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott
Makes one 13 x 9 inch sheet cake

For the Cake:

226g unsalted butter, cut into biug chunks
½ cup cocoa powder
4 eggs, beaten well
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sugar (I reduced the sugar to 1 1/3 cups)
1½ cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used roasted almonds instead)

For the Mississippi Mud Frosting:
(Suggest you reduce this by 1/3 as there is more than sufficient frosting to frosting this cake)

3¼ cups confectioners sugar (I reduced the sugar to 2 2/3 cups)
½ cup cocoa powder
113g unsalted butter, melted
½ cup milk or evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups mini marshmallows or 3 cups large marshmallows quartered

Method for the Cake:

1) Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan. In a medium saucepan combine the butter and cocoa powder and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the butter is melted and the mixture is well blended, about 3 – 4 minutes. Stir in the beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, salt and pecans and beat until the batter is well combined and the flour has disappeared.

2) Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cake springs back when touched gently in the centre and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

3) While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting so it is ready to pour over the hot cake.

Method for the Mud Frosting:

1) In a medium bowl combine the confectioners sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and beat everything together well. Set aside until the cake is done.

To Serve:

1) Remove the cake from the oven, scatter the marshmallows over the top and then return the cake to the hot oven for about 3 minutes to soften the marshmallows.

2) Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack. Pour the frosting all over the marshmallow dotted cake and eat straight away or allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

Red Velvet Cake

What a coincidence that the Cake Slice Bakers first challenge for 2010 happens to be a Red Velvet Cake! Why you would ask me ... well I've seen so many bloggers posting about this cake or cupcake and I have yet to taste or bake it. I had in fact been meaning to add this to my "to bake list" and was somewhat pleased that it has surfaced as a challenge instead.

Usually I'm pretty good with challenges and would get it out of the way as early as possible. But I've been pretty slack over the last two months and have kinda of rush through my challenges. This particularly one is the same as well. I actually baked these cupcakes on Sunday afternoon. I was back in my hometown in Kuala Lumpur over the last 3 days to catch up with my sister. She's currently residing in Melbourne, Australia and was home for about a month and half. This would be her last weekend in Kuala Lumpur before she flies back home. It was good to catch up with her as well as spend a few days back home, not forgetting eating local food as well.

Rather than attempt a layered 9" cake, I halfed this recipe and turned out a dozen cupcakes instead. I didn't do the original pecan coconut icing and used some left over white chocolate buttercream which had been sitting in my fridge for more than a month now. I would have thought the buttercream would have gone off as it was really "old" but surprisingly it was still good. I just needed to thaw it slightly and rewhipped it. The Red Velvet cupcakes were surprisingly good, with really moist, tender crumbs. I believe the standard icing for this cake would have been cream cheese frosting but I guess if you want to deviate from it, just make sure you choose a frosting that really goes well with this cake.



Red Velvet Cake
Makes a 9" layered cake or 24 cupcakes
(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

Ingredients for the Cake:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (see note below)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp red food colouring
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar

Ingredients for the Pecan Coconut Icing:
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Method:

1) To make the cake, heat the oven to 350F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line them with waxed paper to kitchen parchment. Grease the paper and flour the pans.

2) Prepare three separate mixtures for the batter. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and use a fork to mix them together well. Combine the cocoa powder and the red food colouring in a small bowl, mashing and stirring them together to make a thick smooth paste. (I found it easier to add the cocoa to the dry mixture. For the food colouring I added this directly into the batter after the addition of the eggs.)

3) In a large bowl, beat the butter with a mixer at low speed for 1 minute until creamy and soft. Add the sugar and then beat well for 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl now and then. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one until the mixture is creamy, fluffy and smooth. Scrape the cocoa-food colouring paste into the batter and beat to mix it in evenly.

4) Add a third of the flour mixture and then about half the milk, beating the batter with a mixer at low speed. Mix only enough to make the flour or liquid disappear into the batter. Mix in another third of the flour, the rest of the milk and then the last of the flour in the same way.

5) In a small bowl, combine the baking soda and vinegar and stir well. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to quickly mix this last mixture into the red batter, folding it in gently by hand. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.

6) Bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes until the layers are spring back when touched lightly in the centre and are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans. (For cupcakes bake between 15 - 18 minutes. Check to see if ready - if not bake for another minute or 2.)

7) Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks or folded kitchen towels for 15 minutes. Then turn them out onto the racks, remove the paper and turn top side up again to cool completely.



Method for the Coconut Pecan Icing:

1) Combine the milk and flour in a small or medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking or stirring often until the mixture thickens almost to a paste, around 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and scrape it into a small bowl to cool completely.

2) Meanwhile, beat the butter with a mixture at high speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar in thirds, beating well each time until the mixture is creamy and fairly smooth. Add the cooled milk and flour mixture and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides now and then to combine everything well. Using a large spoon or spatula, stir im the vanilla, coconut and pecans, mixing to combine everything well into a thick, fluffy, nubbly icing.

To Assemble:

Place one cake layer top side down on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread a third of the icing on top. Place the second layer, top side up, on top. Frost the sides and then the top of the cake with the remaining icing. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to help the icing set.

NOTE: If you can’t find buttermilk, stir 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar into 1 cup of milk and leave to stand for 10 minutes before using.

White Chocolate Layer Cake

I guess the season to be jolly has come around again and it has been a breezing fast one in my opinion. I am still reeling as to where the last 12 months have gone to? Amongst many things that I do know is that I have diligently blog posted in 2009, baked and baked some more, tried out new recipes which I have never done in my entire life and met many, many good virtual friends through my blog and gotten to know them better through their own blogs. Thus, I would like to wish each and everyone of you happy holidays and good tidings.

So in this month of festivities, the Cake Slice Bakers have selected a very appropriate cake to finish off the year with. It is a White Chocolate Layer Cake and we were encouraged to decorate it with a Christmas theme. I decided to keep this simple, yet elegant, so fancy santa clauses or christmas trees, etc are OUT!

I just piped my version of holly leaves on the top and decorated the bottom edges with alternating red and green balls. Unfortunately the red Wilton colour that I had used didn't exactly turn out Christmas red - it sort of came out reddish pink. I also substituted the original frosting in below recipe with a white chocolate buttercream frosting. I took a slice to taste (official tester that is me!) and didn't think too much of the entire ensemble. But the next day, wow .... it was a different thing altogether. In fact I think this cake tasted so much, much better a day or 2 after sitting in the fridge. It defiitely got the thumbs up from everyone! This is one recipe that I would do again. I would truly recommend that you use a very good white chocolate (like valhora) if you are planning to bake this cake.



Cake: White Chocolate Layer Cake
(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)
Makes an 8" triple layer cake
(Halfing the recipe will give you 6" triple layer cake - which is what I did)

For the White Chocolate Cake:

2 ½ cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
4 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup boiling water
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (see note below)

For the White Chocolate Frosting:

6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
12 ounces (1 ½ cups) cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp butter, softened
¾ tsp vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners sugar

Method for the Cake:

1) Heat the oven to 350F and grease three 8 inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a circle of waxed paper or kitchen parchment and flour the pan.

2) Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl, and stir with a fork to mix them well.

3) Bring 3 inches of water to an active simmer in the bottom of a double boiler or a saucepan that will accommodate a medium heat proof bowl so that it sits snugly over the water. Melt the white chocolate in the top of the double boiler or in the bowl over the simmering water. Stir often, and then pour in the ½ cup of boiling water and stir to mix well. Remove from the heat.

4) In a medium bowl, combine the butter and the sugar and beat with a mixed at medium speed to mix them together well. Add the egg yolks, one by one, beating each time to keep the mixture smooth. Add the white chocolate and the vanilla, and stir well to mix.

5) Add about a third of the flour mixture, and then about half of the buttermilk, beating with a mixer at low speed just long enough after each addition to make the flour or buttermilk disappear. Mix in another third of the flour, remaining buttermilk and then the last of the flour.

6) In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites at medium speed until they are foamy and opaque. Continue beating at high speed until they swell into thick, pillowy mounds and hold peaks that are stiff, but not fry. Add one third of the egg white mixture to the bowl of batter, and fold it in gently using a spatula. Add the remaining egg whites and continue to fold with a light touch, until the egg whites are blended in well, with only a few streaks showing.

7) Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched gently in the centre and are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans.

8) Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks or folded kitchen towels for about 30 minutes. Turn them out onto the racks and peel off the paper and turn them back the right way up to cool completely.



Method for the White Chocolate Frosting

1) In the top of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl, melt the white chocolate over hot, not simmering, water, stirring often. Remove from the heat once melted and let cool to lukewarm. Transfer the melted white chocolate to a large bowl, and add the cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Beat together at medium speed until you have a smooth sauce. Add the confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.

To Assemble:

Place one layer, top side down on a cake stand or serving plate and spread it with about a fourth of the icing. Continue stacking and frosting each cake layer in the same way. Cover the sides of the cake with any remaining frosting.

Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Set the cake out about 30 minutes before you want to serve it.

NOTE: If you can’t find buttermilk, stir 1 tbsp lemon juice into 1 cup of milk and leave to stand for 10 minutes before using.

Burnt Sugar Cake

Based on popular voting, the November cake for Cake Slice Bakers is a Burnt Sugar Cake. When the recipe was posted up in the forum, I shuddered to think of the amount of sugar I would be consuming in each slice. I even delayed baking this cake until the very last weekend before actual post date. Then when I read some of the comments posted by my fellow Cake Slice bakers, I quickly decided that I would cut back on the amount of sugar used in the original recipe. In addition I also made some minor alternations. Well, firstly I reduced the recipe by half. Secondly I decided that it would be kinda cute to turn these into cupcakes instead. The halfed reciped resulted in a dozen cupcakes for me. I used the burnt sugar frosting for only half of the cupcakes and for the rest, I decorated them with fondant. In fact it is homemade marshmallow fondant that I had used. It's been a while since I dabbled in using fondant, so it's high time I dusted the cobwebs off my fondant tools and took them out from storage.



The cupcakes came out extremely moist (a little denser than a vanilla cupcake) but it kept extremely well even after 3 days in the fridge. I think it was due to the sugar content that kept the crumbs from drying out. The reduced sugar amount that I had used seem about right. However the frosting was way, way too sweet for my taste! And this is even after I had reduced the amount of burnt sugar syrup that was added to the frosting. The burnt sugar gave the frosting a slight distinct maple syrup taste. So if you are not a sweet-tooth I would strongly encourage that you find an alternative frosting for this cake.

By the way, would you believe I had my first rejection to my cakes! However it was not because they taste horrible or anything like that. The recipient said that she had been putting on so much weight since I started bringing baked goodies to the office that she'll have to change her entire wardrobe soon.

Lastly don't forget to check out my fellow bakers at Cake Slice Bakers for more beautiful creations.

Burnt Sugar Cake
Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott
Makes One 9" cake

For the Cake:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1¾ cups sugar (I reduced this to 1 1/4 cups of sugar and still found the cake to be a little bit sweet)
4 eggs
½ cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (recipe below) (I used only 1/3 cup of burnt sugar)

For the Burnt Sugar Syrup:

1 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water

For the Burnt Sugar Frosting:

3¾ cups confectioners sugar
½ cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (above)
¼ cup (½ stick) butter
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 – 3 tbsp evaporated milk or normal milk

Method – Burnt Sugar Syrup:

1) Heat the sugar in a cast iron skillet or another heavy bottomed pan with high sides. Heat over a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts into a clear brown caramel syrup. It should be the colour of tea.

2) Gradually add the boiling water, pouring it down the sides of the pan so that if the syrup foams and bubbles up, you should be protected.

3) Continue cooking, stirring often, until the water combines with the syrup and turns a handsome brown syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Store the cooled syrup in a sealed jar if not using straight away.

Method - Cake:

1) Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.

2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir with a fork to mix well. Stir the vanilla into the milk.

3) In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer at high speed for 2 – 3 minutes, until they are well combined. Stop now and then to scrape the bowl down. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well each time. Pour in half a cup of the burnt sugar syrup and beat well. Add a third of the flour mixture and about half of the milk, beating at a low speed, until just incorporated. Mix in another third of the flour and the rest of the milk. Finally, add the remaining flour.

4) Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched gently in the centre and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. (For cupcakes, fill the cup liners to 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes.) Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out the cakes into the wire rack to cool completely.

Method – Burnt Sugar Frosting:

1) In a large bowl, combine the confectioners sugar, the burnt sugar syrup, butter and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl now and then to bring the ingredients together. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and continue beating until the frosting is thick, soft, smooth and easy to spread. Add a little more sugar if it is thin, and a little more milk if it is too thick.



To Assemble:

Place one layer, top side down, on a cake stand or serving plate. Scoop about ¾ cup of the frosting onto the cake. Spread to the edges and place the second cake layer over it, top side down. Frost the sides of the cake, and then the top until it is evenly covered.

Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake

Today, our baking group, Cake Slice Bakers, will embark on a new chapter. After a year of baking recipes from "Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman", we have now picked a new book to challenge ourselves. Our choice (by democratic voting) happens to be "Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations by Nancie McDermott".

Unlike "Sky High" which basically concentrated on triple layer cakes "Southern Cakes" will feature 65 delicious recipes from Southern Heritage. Recipes will include jam cakes and jelly rolls, humble pear bread and peanut cake. It will also contain whole chapters on both moist chocolate and coconut cakes.



The first cake to make its debut from this book is a Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake! A light butter sheet cake with a sprinkled middle layer of cinnamon, brown sugar, pecans and raisins – strudel style. The cake is then topped with more of the yummy sprinkles and baked until sweet, sticky and golden. It’s served warm in slices straight from the pan. Sounds delicious doesn't it! And it sure was. I loved the crispy streusel topping. In fact my hubby practically scrapped off all the topping from the cake! Instead of using raisins I decided to finish using the half opened packet of dried cranberries which I had used for baking some cookies. I really left this challenge to the last moment - completed it on Sunday afternoon. I wasn't too worried as this particular cake did not require frosting, decoration, etc - unlike Sky High". By the way, I've placed an order of this book from Amazon and waiting for delivery of it in November. Can't wait to see what other recipes this book will reveal.

Also go check out my fellow bakers at Cake Slice Bakers for more beautiful creations.



Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake
Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott
Makes a 13 x 9 inch sheet cake
Print Recipe

For the Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup (2 sticks or 226g) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

For the Cinnamon Raisin Filling

1½ cups light brown sugar
3 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp cinnamon
1½ cups raisins (I used dried cranberries)
1½ cups coarsely chopped pecans
¾ cup (1½ sticks or 170g) butter, melted

Method:

1) Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 9 inch pan.

2) To make the filling, combine the light brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl and stir with a fork to mix everything well. Combine the raisins and pecans in another bowl and toss to mix them. Place the cinnamon mixture, nut mixture and melted butter by the baking pan to use later.

3) To make the cake batter, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir the vanilla into the milk. In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar and beat with a mixer on high speed until pale yellow and evenly mixed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl to ensure a good mix. Add the eggs and beat for another 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl now and then, until the mixture is smooth and light.

4) Use a large spoon or spatula to add about a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir only until the flour disappears. Add a third of the milk and mix in. Repeat twice more until all the flour and milk mixtures have been incorporated. Stir just enough to keep the batter smooth.

5) Spread half the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half the cinnamon mixture over the batter followed by half the melted butter. Scatter half the raisins and nuts over the top. Spread the remaining batter carefully over the filling, using a spatula to smooth the batter all the way to the edges of the pan. Top with the leftover cinnamon, butter and nut mixture, covering the cake evenly.

6) Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown, fragrant and beginning to pull away from the edges of the pan. Place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before serving in squares right from the pan.

7) The cake is delicious hot, warm or at room temperature.

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

I recently discovered that my oven thermostat has gone totally out of whack! How did I find out about it? Well, I baked some cupcakes one week day evening after work and mid way through baking, the cupcakes looked a bit too brown at the edges to me. I thus lowered the oven temperature from 180C to 170C. By the time the cupcakes were done, every single one had cracked domes and the edges were slightly crisp. This got me really puzzled. I then decided to test the oven temperature by using an external oven thermometer (which I rarely use) and it showed that my oven was off by about 15C. By the end of the same week when I had to complete my Cake Slice challenge, I again resorted to using the external oven thermometer rather than rely on the oven's one. Lucky for me I did! My oven thermostat is now off by 50C.

Although it took me a while to get the oven to the right temperature, I finally did manage to get my three cake trays baked. I was a bit sceptical about how this cake would taste like as no butter or oil was used at all. Instead the binding agent was mayonnaise. Who would have thought that mayonnaise would have produced such an excellent fudge cake. I had a small slice to taste after the cake layers were put together. It was yummilicious and the sour cream chocolate icing is one frosting (though I didn't care too much for the white choclate mousse) that I will use over again in the future! It's that good! By the way, this cake will be the last cake from "Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes" book which our group, Cake Slice Bakers, will be baking. We will be baking from a totally new book next month, so stay tuned!



Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake
Makes an 9inch triple layer cake; serves 12 to 16
(Recipe from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)

2¼ cups all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2¼ tsp baking soda
1¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup milk
1¼ cups hot, strongly brewed coffee
2 eggs
1 cup mayonnaise (not low fat or fat free)
1½ tsp vanilla extract
2¼ cups sugar

White chocolate mousse (below)
Sour cream chocolate icing (below)

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 9 inch round cake pans. Line the base of each pan with parchment.

2) Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

3) Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring the milk to a simmer. Pour the hot coffee and milk over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth. Let the mocha liquid cool slightly.

4) In a mixer bowl, beat together the eggs, mayonnaise and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the dry ingredients and mocha liquid alternately in 2 or 3 additions, beating until smooth and well blended. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

5) Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before un-molding onto a wire rack and carefully peeling off the paper. Leave to cool completely.

White Chocolate Mousse

4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg white
1 tbsp sugar

1) Melt the white chocolate with ¼ cup cream in a double boiler. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and let the white chocolate cream cool to room temperature. When it has cooled, beat the remaining ¾ cup cream until soft peaks form. In a clean bowl whip the egg white with the sugar until fairly stiff peaks form.

2) Fold the beaten egg white into the white chocolate cream, then fold in the whipped cream until blended. Be sure not to over mix.

Sour Cream Chocolate Icing

12 ounces bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
2 tbsp light corn syrup
¼ cup half-and-half at room temperature
½ cup sour cream, at room temperature

1) Melt the chocolate with the butter and corn syrup in a double boiler over barly simmering water. Remove from the heat and whisk until smooth.

2) Whisk in the half-and-half and sour cream. Use while still soft.

To Assemble:

1) Place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Cover the top evenly with half the white chocolate mousse, leaving a ¼ inch margin around the edge. Repeat with the second layer and the remaining mousse. Set the third layer on top and pour half the sour cream chocolate icing over the filled cake. Spread all over the sides and top. Don’t worry if some of the cake shows through. This first frosting is to seal in the crumbs, and is known as a crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes.

2) After this time cover the cake with the rest of the icing, smoothing it down the sides. It should be the consistency of mayonnaise. Use a palette knife or the back of a spoon to swirl the frosting around the cake.

Pistachio Petit Four Cake

How time has flown this year and I can't believe that it's now almost the end of August! In just about four months from now, we would be celebrating Christmas again. My sister and her family had migrated to Melbourne, Australia in November last year will coming back home or "balik kampung" as Malaysians would call it. My niece had specifically asked her mother to make sure that they drop by and visit me in Singapore. She misses my two dogs. She's not allowed to have a dog right now as their current house which is a 2 bedroom one is simply too small to have another living body invading the space. So I guess the nearest thing she has to the "real" deal, other than her virtual pet dog Nintendo (or is it 3 now ... I forgot) are my two mutts. I'm looking forward to their visit for sure.

Anyway back to the matter at hand. For this particular month, our Cake Slice Bakers group had selected a Pistachio Petit Four Cake. Marzipan, jam preserves and a dark chocolate glaze turn a pistachio butter cake into an irresistible dessert reminiscent of European petit fours glaces. I baked the layers on Friday after a late dinner and did the assembling on Saturday afternoon. The cake is decorated with chopped roasted pistachios and gumpaste roses which had been made much earlier on. This cake is absolutely delicious as I had used a bitter chocolate to make the ganache. I'm definitely going to keep this recipe for a much larger version the next time round.



Pistachio Petit Four Cake
Makes an 8" triple layer cake - serves 12 to 16
Recipe from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne

Ingredients:

3/4 cup skinned pistachio nuts
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
226g (8 ounces)unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup apricot preserves
Marzipan (below)
Dark chocolate glaze (below)

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 180C (350F. Butter three 8 inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2) Spread out the pistachios in a baking tray and toast in the oven for 7 to 10 minutes, until lightly coloured. Transfer to a dish and let cool completely. Finely chop the pistachios and set 1/4 cup aside for decoration.

3) Put the remaining 1/2 cup pistachios in a food processor. Add the sugar and pulse just enough to grind them finely. Pour into a large mixing bowl and add the flour, baking powder and salt. Blend with the mixer on low for 30 seconds.

4) Add the butter, milk and vanilla and wit the mixer on low, beat until completely incorporated. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the beaten eggs in 2 or 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only long enough to blend after each addition. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

5) Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners and let cool completely.

Marzipan

8 ounces almond paste
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup

Crumble the almond paste into a large mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer on low speed to soften the almond paste. Add the confectioners sugar and corn syrup and beat until smooth. Wrap well in plastic so it doesn’t fry out and allow to rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before rolling.

Dark Ganache Glaze

1 pound extra bittersweet chocolate
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Chop the chocolate coarsely and out it in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a bare simmer. Pour immediately over the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth and use the glaze soon after making before it starts to set. Allow to cool and thicken slightly before use.



To Assemble:

1) Roll out a third of the marzipan on a work surface dusted with a little confectioners sugar to about 1/8th inch thick. Set one of the cake pans upside down on the marzipan and trim around it with a small knife to make an 8 inch round. Repeat twice more with the remaining marzipan. Save your scraps to make roses for decoration if desired.

2) Place one cake layer on a cake board, flat side up. Spread 1/4 cup of the apricot preserves evenly over the top, leaving a 1/4 inch margin all round to allow for spreading. Place one marzipan round on top of the preserves and spread 1/3 cup ganache glaze over the top of the marzipan so that it is completely covered. Repeat with the second cake layer, adding more preserves, marzipan and glaze.

3) Add the final cake layer and top with preserves and marzipan as before. Place the whole cake on a wire rack set over a baking pan. Pour the remaining dark ganache glaze over the cake, spreading it as evenly as possible over the top and sides of the cake. Allow the ganache to set before transferring to a plate. It should be smooth and glossy.

Garnish the top with the reserves chopped pistachios.

Optional: Make some marzipan roses with any leftover marzipan scraps if desired.

Marbled Lemon Blueberry Butter Cake

I had skipped last month's Cake Slice Bakers challenge and made it a point to make sure that I put aside time to complete this month's challenge. July's pick happens to be a butter cake using blueberries and lemon. Blueberries and lemon make a sublime pairing and this cake perfectly combines the two. In addition to the buttercream, the cakes were layered together with a home-made blueberry puree. The cakes had a marbled effect to it by adding dollops of blueberry puree to the cake batter and then swirling it around. This certainly was a change to the normal chocolate/vanilla marble cakes which I have baked.

As usual instead of making a full size one, I halfed the recipe to fit my 4" cake pans. If you are scaling down, do note that you will have more batter than required and I do not suggest that you use all of it. In past experiences, I had used all the batter and the sides of my cake baked out well but the centers remained moist. I had to bake them for another 10 - 15 minutes more resulting in the sides being overdone. Now I meausre out each of my 4" pan to ensure that each pan has no more than 280g weight - this includes the weight of my cake pan as well as the cake batter. I guess it'll be trial and error if it's your first time baking a triple layer cake.



Marbled Lemon Blueberry Butter Cake
From: Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes By Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne
Makes one 8 inch triple layered cake

Ingredients:

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar (I reduced the sugar slightly)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1½ tsp lemon extract
7 egg whites
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1¼ cups milk (I used low fat milk)
Fresh blueberries, for decoration

Lemon blueberry preserves (below)
Lemon buttercream frosting (below)

{*1 cup of cake flour is equal to ¾ cup of flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch}

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8 inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2) In a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, lemon zest and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg whites 2 or 3 at a time, beating well between additions and stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3) Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, whisk gently to blend. In 2 or 3 alternating additions, beat the dry ingredients and milk into the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Beat on medium-high speed for about 1 minute to smooth out any lumps and aerate the batter.

4) Scoop 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl. Divide the remaining equally among the 3 prepared pans, smoothing the tops with a spatula. This gives you a smooth surface to work with. Add 2½ tbsp of the lemon blueberry preserves to the reserved batter and blend well. Drizzle heaping teaspoons of this blueberry mixture over the batter in the pans. Use a skewer to swirl the blueberry mixture in short strokes to drag it down through the lemon batter without mixing it in.

5) Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester or skewer stuck in the centre comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Lat the layers cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, peeling off the paper and leaving to cool completely.



Lemon Blueberry Preserves

3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1) Puree the blueberries with any juices that have exuded in a blender. Pass the puree through a coarse strainer to remove the skins.

2) In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the blueberry puree with the sugar, lemon juice, zest and ginger. Bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat, stirring often for 20 minutes, or until the preserves have thickened and are reduced to 1 cup. To check the proper thickness place a small amount of a saucer and put in the freezer until cold. Drag your finger through it. If a clear path is made through the preserve then it is ready. Let the preserves cool before using. (Can be made up to 5 days in advance).



Lemon Buttercream Frosting

1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 eggs
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (I would suggest adding some zest as well for added flavour)

1) In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil without stirring, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat.

2) In a large mixer bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beast the eggs briefly. Slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream, pouring it down the sides of the bowl; be careful to avoid hitting the beaters or the syrup may splatter. When all the syrup has been added, raise the speed to medium,-high and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and cooled to body temperature. This can take 15-20 minutes.

3) Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the softened butter 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, beating well between additions. As you’re adding the last few tablespoons of butter, the frosting will appear to break, then suddenly come together like whipped butter. Beat in the lemon juice, and the frosting is ready to use.

To Assemble:

To assemble the cake, place a layer, flat side up, on a cake stand. Spread half of the lemon blueberry preserves over the top. Place a second layer on top of the first and spread the remaining preserves over it. Finally place the third layer on top and frost the top and sides with the lemon buttercream.

Decorate with fresh blueberries and serve.