Saturday, August 23, 2008

I'll Register Your Car at the DMV in Spanish If You Say "There Might Be Cake"

The title's a bit long, but it's one of my favorite Greg Behrendt jokes, and well this is about cake.


The story is that I wanted to make a good cake after my Nigella cupcakes disaster (pictures to come) but without butter cream icing, as my mother doesn't like it, and really, there's only a certain amount of butter cream I can take. (Does that make me a terrible baker?) Anywho, here's the recipe.

Cake:
12 Tbls soft butter
1 1/2 c sugar plus 2 tbls
1/4 tsp salt
2 c flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
3/4 c milk
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c strawberries
Cooking Spray
Two 8-inch round cake pans (Well, preferably two, I couldn't find my pair so I had to use my one springform round.)


Frosting: (I got this from Alton Brown's Coconut 7 min frosting recipe, just without the coconut)
3 egg whites
1/3 c cold water
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
Metal bowl
Hand mixer

For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray pans with cooking spray.

---Beat the butter and 1 1/2 c of the sugar until light and fluffy.
---Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl, beat lightly. Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl.
---Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry. Scrape bowl often.
---Pour half of the batter in each pan.
---Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.
---Once out of the oven, let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.
---Turn out and let cool completely before icing the cakes.

---As the cakes cool combine the strawberries and remaining 2 tbls of sugar.

Once the cakes are cool, begin the icing.
---Bring two inches of water in a saucepan to a simmer.
---Place all ingredients in the metal bowl.
---With the bowl over the simmering water, beat the ingredients at low speed for one minute.
---Raise the speed to high and beat for another five minutes.
---Remove the bowl from the heat and beat for another 3 minutes.
---Let sit for a few minutes before using

Okay so it's technically a 9-minute icing, but I wanted the icing a little stiffer than it was after 7 minutes. Actually if I could, I would've beat it a little longer to make the meringue icing stiffer than what I eventually settled for.

For the cake construction, prepare the serving plate with strips of parchment so as not to get icing on the plate.
---If any of the layers are severely rounded, level them slightly with a serrated knife.
---Place the first layer on the parchment lined serving plate. If one layer is thicker than the other, place the thicker layer on the bottom.
---Pour 1/4 c of the frosting onto the bottom layer and spread evenly up to 1/4 inch from the edge.
---Drain some of the juices that have secreted from the strawberries.
---Evenly place the strawberries onto the first layer. Save a few for decorating the top.
---Turn the second layer upside down and place on top of the strawberries.
---Pour most of the remaining frosting onto the top and spread over onto the sides to reach full coverage. Add frosting as needed.
---Place the strawberries you'd set aside onto the top.

It's okay if there is a gap that forms due to the slightly large layers. It'll look delicious anyway.

Go shove your face!

Lator.

P.S Hoorah for Shawn Johnson! She definitely deserves that Gold medal.

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