Thursday, March 26, 2009

Yellow Cake with Meringue Buttercream Frosting

I feel like I’ve been on a never ending search for the perfect cake recipe. I even attended a class at the Institute of Culinary Education about Making and Decorating the Perfect Birthday Cake. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with the recipe - it seemed a bit heavy. Recently, in my search for a cake, Kritsa (Krit’s sister) shared the following recipe with me. I have found that cakes made with oil, instead of butter, tend to be more moist, so this cake worked in that sense, and also included wine which was a surprisingly delicious addition.

To complement the cake, I used a strawberry filling and a meringue buttercream. I think it would also work well with a simple whipped cream frosting.

Happy baking!

Fragrant Yellow Cake

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup dry, fragrant white wine
  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 ¼ tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and beat for about 1 minute. Then pour mixture into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 30 minutes (until cake pulls away from the sides).





Strawberry Filling

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups strawberries – fresh or frozen, halved
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ cup of water
  • 2 tsp. cornstarch

Ingredients listed are approximate. Add ingredients at your discretion and to your taste. Lemon juice, rind, additional sugar, honey etc may all be added as needed.



Directions:
Add all ingredients together over low heat and mix until sauce begins to thicken. Mash strawberries or use an immersion blender to smooth out sauce.



Meringue Buttercream

*recipe from the Institute of Culinary Education

Ingredients:


  • ½ cup egg white (about 4 large eggs)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Pinch salt
  • 3 sticks softened unsalted butter
  • 1 tbls. vanilla

Directions:
Place egg whites, sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk gently and constantly until egg whites are hot and sugar is dissolved (about 140 degrees or too hot to put your finger in for 5 seconds). This will take about 3-4 minutes.



Take the bowl off the heat and whip the meringue by machine using a whisk attachment, until thick and cooled, about 5-10 minutes. (**Be patient! It is very important that the mixture is cool to the touch so that the butter you add in next does not melt). Switch to the paddle attachment and beat in the butter until the buttercream is smooth and spreadable. (**If it becomes a funny texture at some point during the process be persistent and keep mixing until it becomes smooth).



Use the buttercream immediately or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature and beat smooth by machine. Just before using the buttercream add in flavoring. Beat in the vanilla and continue beating until smooth.

(For a different flavor, you can substitute 2-3 tbls. of lemon juice, 3 tbls instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbls of water, or 2-3 tbls liqueur etc. for the vanilla).

Enjoy!!!

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