What's the hype about this yellow cake?

Anyone who has ever read my blog, or looked at my Facebook, or spent any amount of time with me, knows I love cake. Cake. Is. Delicious. Period. But I like baking cake even more than actually eating it.

I have been looking for a really great yellow cake recipe for some time now, so when Buzzfeed published this recipe this weekend, I HAD to try it. One day I saw it on Buzzfeed, the next it was all over my Facebook and Pinterest. I just had to know how it stacked up. (Pun totally intended.)

I am happy to report it really was a good cake. But it was just good, not great. It had a good crumb, but it will be quick to dry out. Over time I think I will continue to tweak this recipe to find its perfect sweet spot, but for now why not enjoy a delicious cake because you can!

Below is the recipe as laid out by Buzzfeed, but I am providing my own step by step instructions. I have a few things that I changed, and a few instructions that will help you ace this cake that they left out.

For the Yellow Cake:

• Nonstick spray (like Baker's Joy) 
• 4 cups all-purpose or cake flour 
• 2 tsp. baking powder 
• 1 ½ tsp. kosher salt 
• 1 tsp. baking soda 
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk 
• ½ cup vegetable oil 
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract 
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 2 cups sugar 
• ½ cup lightly packed light brown sugar 
• 4 large eggs 
• 4 large egg yolks 

At least 45 minutes before you plan to begin making your cake batter, take your butter, eggs, and buttermilk out of the refrigerator. It's important that all the ingredients are room temperature to make a consistent batter and to help it come together. You will want to separate the egg yolks and whites for 4 of the eggs while they are still cold. (It is so much easier to do when they are cold.) Place the white back in the fridge in a sealed container, and leave the yolks out on the counter. The other 4 eggs do not need to be cracked at this time.

(45 minutest later) Preheat oven to 325° and position one rack in the top of the oven and one rack in the middle of the oven. Spray three 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray like Baker's Joy, or spread butter/shortening all over the pans using a pastry brush and then coat in flour. [I used an 8 inch pan because that is what I have. I also baked the cake in stages. Do what you gotta do!]

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together; set aside. For extra points, sift the ingredients together. It makes a difference in the texture of the batter. In a measuring cup combine the buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; set aside. Beat together until the mixture is no longer separated.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and light brown sugar. Using an electric mixer on high, beat everything together until it’s super light and fluffy. You want the sugar to be losing its crystal texture.

Add in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating in between additions. Beat the batter until it’s almost doubled in volume and very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. You want this mixture to be a pale yellow, and for there to be absolutely no sugar granules. It is important to scrape down the sides of the bowl during this process, and make sure you get all the way to the bottom so no crystals remain in the end.

Now it's time to add the liquid and dry ingredients. The great Paula Deen suggets beginning and ending with the liquid to ensure a velvety texture, so who am I to argue. Start by adding about one fourth of the liquid mixture into the batter and beat on low to slowly incorporate. Then add one third of the dry mixture, and slowly beat into the cake. Alternate with the remaining ingredients until everything is incorporated. Make certain to end with liquid.

Divide the batter into the pans. (Or if you're me with one pan, measure it out following Wilton's handy chart according to what pan you are using.) Be very careful not to overfill the pans, because this cake rises! I almost had a HUGE problem on my hands (which led me to bumping down the temperature from the original recipe.) Each cake will need to bake between 35 and 40 minutes, or until golden, pulling away from the pan, and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for just a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Make sure all the layers are completely cool before icing. Also, don't forget to level the cakes before stacking them!

My mom's Chocolate Buttercream Icing: 

• 1/2 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder 
• 4 cups powdered sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 2-4 tbsp cream/milk 

Beat together the butter and shortening until smooth. Beat in the cocoa powder and vanilla until smooth. Slowly add in the powder sugar, beating the mixture and stopping periodically to scrape down the bowl. Before adding the last cup of powder sugar, add no more than 2 tbsp of cream and beat until well combined. Add the last cup of powder sugar. At this point continue beating the icing until it is smooth and creamy. If the icing is to stiff, add more cream, if it is too soft or will not set up on its own, add a little more powder sugar until you reach your desired consistency.

All in all this was a good cake. Not the best I have ever had, definitely nowhere near the worst. It was a crazy five and a half inches tall! I wasn't sure it was going to pit in my cake stand. Hopefully you'll have a chance to try this recipe and let me know what tips and tricks you used to make this your own. And don't forget to check out more of my cakes and recipes!

It's Wedding Season

I am very blessed to have so many wonderful friends, and anyone who has so many close firends is blessed to be in many weddings. That is my life. I have the honor of being a maid of honor, a bridesmaid, and the prestigious opportunity to make a friends wedding cake this summer. So I'm super busy. A few weeks ago I did a wedding cake tasting for my friends Anna and Colin, a traditional Italian Wedding Cake, totally to die for! This will end up being their grooms cake with a huge double T on it! For the tasting I made half a batch because we didn't need much, but I definitely suggest making the whole recipe your first time so you know what consistencies to look for. This is a great recipe, very moist, just enough flake, and completely scrumptious!

Italian Wedding Cake for a Beautiful Couple

• 1/2 cup of buttermilk (If you don't have any and really don't see the need to buy it, use sour cream!)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup shortening (Honestly, I just used classic butter, so much tastier, but heavier.)
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups white sugar
• 5 egg yolks (The trick for separating eggs is to separate them straight out of the fridge. The yolk will hold together much better when its cold, but you need to allow them to sit out on the counter as you work so that they warm up because they will fluff better later.)
• 1/4 tsp almond extract (YUM! I am all about anything with almond)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 5 egg whites
• 1/2 cup DRAINED crushed pineapple
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup crushed pecans

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Trace the bottom of your three 8in round pans onto parchment paper. Cut these out, spray Pam in the pans, put the paper in, and spray again. I learned this trick working at the bakery and it works every time. Did you know that the carbon in pencils is food safe, its the exact same chemical makeup as the burnt crust on a marshmallow, so don't hesitate. 

In a small bowl combine buttermilk/sour cream, baking soda, and salt. Set this off to the side, and when you come back to it you will see proof of a chemical reaction. ("What's that? A chemical reaction in the kitchen? I thought I left chemistry behind!" You don't say so? OH I think NOT! Chemistry is the only reason cooking works, embrace it, and use it to help teach your kiddos!)

Now in a large bowl mix the shortening, butter, and sugar together until whipped and lighter in color. You want to try to get the sugar as dissolved as possible. Now beat the egg yolks in ONE AT A TIME. Once all the yolks are incorporated you need to stir in the almond and vanilla. In the bowl with the buttermilk reaction stir in the flour. Then blend the two together for the batter. 

Take the bowl from the buttermilk and rinse it out. You need to use this bowl to fluff the egg whites. Egg whites respond best to beating when they are at room temp so don't hesitate to leave them sitting on the counter. Use the whip attachment on your beater and work with eggs until they are stuff and form stiff peaks. When you pull the beater out of the eggs, if the peaks don't stand up without falling over, they aren't ready yet. 

Slowly fold in the egg whites to the batter. It will end up like this

Now you can add in what really makes this cake so truly Italian. The pineapple, coconut and pecans are now added to give this cake a great depth! I'm drooling thinking about it! 

Now the batter gets placed in pans and baked for 20 mins. I checked them at 20 and then every 4 mins or so. You don't want to open the oven too often so as to lose heat, but checking the cakes is a must. You want the toothpick to come out of the cake clean when inserted, or with only a few crumples. 

Every Italian Wedding Cake is topped off with cream cheese icing, so here's my go to recipe.

• 1 stick butter
• 2 8oz packages cream cheese
• 1 package powdered sugar
• 1tsp vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Slowly add in a cup of powdered sugar at a time. Watch the consistency of the icing as you, when I am doing a cake I will make a stiffer icing, so I will add more. Add in the vanilla at the very end. Ice the cake and enjoy!