I just love this time of year. I am always surprised how many things flower and bloom. The air is so sweet with the smell of tender buds, delicate flowers, and fresh grass. For those of us that live areas of four seasons, spring is truly magical. It is the most radical of the seasons. Winter, seemingly endless, comes to abrupt end and the earth comes back to life. And it comes back to life in the most beautiful way.
We had a birthday in the family recently. It was niece’s birthday and I made her cake. I am always on the search for good cake. I used to be more of baker than I am now, but I would like to get back into it. Baking is a science, so it’s hard for me to come up with recipes. “Winging it” when I bake usually means that I produce something inedible. So when I play around with baking I always use a recipe to shadow. Then I make some tweaks according to my tastes. I did that with this cake and the icing.
It came out well, it’s a basic yellow cake that could be
added to or just left alone. It’s
moist and not too sweet. You could layer some fresh fruit or lemon curd between
the layers if you like. Have some fun with it, and don’t forget to pick some
nice spring flowers for the top of the cake. Enjoy.
Vanilla Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room
temperature
2 ½ cups all-purpose unbleached flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sugar
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Butter and flour two 8x2 cake
pans.
In a bowl sift flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda
together.
In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until
it is light and fluffy. (using an
electric mixer or a standup mixer)
Add eggs in one at time.
Beat in vanilla.
Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk into
the creamed butter.
Mix until just combined.
Divide the batter between the two cake pans.
Bake for 32- 35 minutes or until the cake starts to pull
away from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cake cool completely.
Run a knife around the sides of the cake to loosen.
Spread frosting in between the layers of the cake and all
around the tops and sides.
Add fresh flowers to decorate if desired.
Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
(Butter and sugar, does it get any better?)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 oz milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth.
Add sugar, milk, salt and vanilla.
Beat until fluffy.
