Today was my friend's birthday, and he is a huge Green Bay Packers fan. So, naturally, I made a three layered yellow cake, dyed green and yellow! Though it's a yellow cake, it wasn't actually very yellow, and dyed quite easily. I then covered the cake in a cream cheese frosting, so it was a surprise when he cut into it. It was so much fun to watch his face when he saw the inside of the cake.
Both recipes comes from The Joy of Cooking, which is an all-inclusive cookbook that I absolutely adore. I'm pretty sure this cookbook has belonged to the family longer than I have. I think it's a necessity for all households.
The Cake
The Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups cake flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 2 sticks butter (room temp)
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
If you wish to dye the cake like I did, also have food coloring in the colors you'd like (not pictured). I generally prefer gel dyes, but only had liquid dye in green and yellow. Though liquid dye can sometimes bake less vibrantly, sometimes coming off as a pastel, this worked just fine!
The Process
Mix together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make sure the powder is smooth. (The recipe says to sift it together, but everyone knows ain't nobody got time for dat.)In a small bowl, mix together the milk, vanilla, and almond extract.
In a large bowl (omg so many bowls), beat the butter until creamy. Change the mixing speed to high, and gradually add 1 1/2 cups sugar, and beat until light and fluffy, like the wool of a little lamb (3-5 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 350F. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites into two small bowls (more bowls, I know I know). If you're using a standing mixer to beat the butter and sugar, do this while that blends together.
Beat the egg yolks into the butter mix one at a time.
Switch the beating speed to low, and add the flour mix in thirds, alternating with the milk mix.
And don't you dare conveniently forget to scrape down the sides. I know you're thinking about it.
Using clean equipment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. If available, I suggest using a standing mixer for the previous part, and a handheld beater for the egg whites, but I know not everyone has both kinds; just make sure that whatever you use is clean when you beat the eggs, otherwise it won't create the right texture and peaks won't form.
Increasing the speed to high, gradually add 1/4 cup sugar. Beat "until the peaks are stiff but not dry."
Gently fold 1/4 of the egg white mix into the batter, followed by the remaining egg white mix.
If you're dying the cake, separate the batter into thirds, and mix in the dye. Make sure if you want vibrant colors, to mix in a lot if you use liquid dye.
Place the batter evenly into three greased 8-9" pans, (To insure a clean release, line the bottom with parchment paper. I didn't do this though, and was completely fine.) Bake for 25-35 minutes, using your dearly loved tooth pick trick.
However, after baking for 5 minutes, your oven might completely shut down. This will require the oven to be pulled out of the counter, and for you to perform some acrobatic moves to maneuver yourself over the counter and into the hole where the oven was originally. Warning: the floor will be extremely dirty. While you're reconnecting the oven back to its lifeline of electricity, the vent duct will probably rip off. This is a good time to test whether you want to be a mechanical engineer or a circus performer. Using some more sweet acrobatic moves, climb out of the whole and retrieve a screw driver and electrical tape. Do a cartwheel back into the oven hole. Vainly try to unscrew the metal clasp surrounding the duct, which you can't actually see because of your awkward contortionist position. Realize you are running out of time, and decide "screw this screw," climb out of the hole, wash off your dusty feet as gracefully as you can, and take all of your baking materials and drive to your best friend's house to use her oven.
I hope you never have to see the horrors of what lays beneath the oven.
Life is just splendid.
Once baked, let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then slide a knife around the edges of the pan/cake, invert the pan, and watch the cake slide ride out! Flip the cake right side up and let cool completely.
The Icing
The Ingredients
- 8 oz cold cream cheese
- 5 tbsp butter, room temp.
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 egg
If you'd like, you can also add other flavors to the frosting, such as spices, extracts, or even booze. I left mine plain and simple.
The recipe says the butter is optional, and you can use up to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar.
The recipe also didn't call for an egg. I added that one in myself. I'll explain later.
The Process
While the cakes are baking, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together.
Then add the powdered sugar and beat in as well. (You're supposed to add it in thirds, but I skimmed over this step and dumped the whole amount in. Twas fine.)
At this point, I decided that the frosting was a bit too stiff. I was still at my friend's house, and asked if they had milk so that I could add it in. They didn't. (It is appropriate, even expected, for you to think "Wow your friend is a freak.")
So instead I added in an egg.
It was a good decision.
This will make the icing quite a bit more liquidy, but this can be remedied by placing the frosting into the fridge to let it stiffen while the cakes continue to bake and cool. I know this seems somewhat counter intuitive from the original purpose of adding the egg, but the texture is much smoother, and the frosting has an overall better flavor.
Assembling
Once your cakes have completely cooled, level the tops of the bottom two using a large serrated knife. Evenly spread icing across the level tops, then stack the cakes on top of each other.
Begin to ice the exposed surroundings to make everything even. Note: don't ice it to completely cover up everything. Two step process, man.
Once everything is even, place the cake in the freezer to make sure everything sets nicely. Let it freeze for at least an hour.
Place the remaining icing back into the fridge.
Once sufficiently frozen, pull out the cake and icing once again. Now ice the cake for presentation. And voila! You're done!
The Finished Product
Plain...
...decorated!
Sorry I didn't have a photo of the actual inside of the cake; I hope you can just take my word that it looked really polished.
Some Notes
The icing will slightly melt a little (though not dripping off the cake melted) if set out for too long. If you exempt the egg, this would be less likely to happen. Personally, I like the softer icing texture (it almost seems like cinnamon roll icing - and who doesn't like cinnamon roll icing?!), and believe the egg gave it just the right flavor.
The Final Verdict
omnomnomnomnomnom
This cake was so good.
Dense and sponge-y at the same time.
And honestly not too complicated to prepare, especially if you don't stack the cakes and serve them separately!
Also can I just say I'm proud of how I slightly improvised the icing?
Though honestly, this cake better have been drop-dead delicious after all the mechanical troubles it caused me.
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