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.