Perfect Party Cake

Friends, family, loyal blog readers, I have a confession to make.


I have joined a covert organization.


An organization known to get a rise out of it's members. An organization known to appreciate the sweet life. An organization that eats dessert first.


I receive a mission (aka, recipe) once a month and, along with the other members, complete it to the tee, keep it mum (MUM I TELL YOU!), and post our results on the same day.


It rocks my world.


I am a Daring Baker.


This was my first Daring Baker challenge this month and I was so excited when I saw the recipe - Perfect Party Cake from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook "Baking: From My Home to Yours"with a meringue-style Buttercream frosting (recipe below). Since Lloyd's birthday is on the 29th of the month and the challenge deadline was the 30th, I thought that it was perfect timing.


And then I realized that our party was at the park. In the heat of the day. For a one year old. Attended by five toddlers between the age of 11 months to 2 years old (and their parents!). And I don't have a cake stand, let alone some form of Tupperware to transport said cake that was going to take me hours to make. And I certainly wasn't about to spend hours on a cake, nervously sweating that the buttercream was going to curdle or that I'd bought seeded instead of seedless raspberry preserves only to allow my little guy to gleefully shove his fist into it while we oohed and aahed and took pictures and got the bathwater ready.


Nope. I instead served this a week early at my Easter dinner. And it was a hit!


Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the process, as I had my hands full with keeping little guy out of the kitchen while baking, but I made the cake on Saturday and covered both cakes with plastic wrap and refrigerated them until Sunday. Then, while my ham was cooking on Sunday, whipped up the buttercream after church and frosted the cake. The cake was the easy part, I made it exactly as written and it was super simple. The only thing I changed was that instead of adding lemon extract, I added in the juice of half a lemon along with the lemon rind.


And by the way, can I just tell you that I want to make sugar with lemon rind for everything now? Wouldn't it make an espresso divine? But I digress,


The challenge that I was really worried about was the buttercream. It said in the recipe that it worked best in a cool room, and I was in my tiny, un-air-conditioned kitchen, over a hot oven roasting a ham, in 80 degree weather. I just knew that the butter was going to be too warm, and it would curdle and I'd be stressed. But, lo and behold, I followed the directions exactly and the buttercream turned out gourgeous and glossy. I needn't have worried.


I made the recipe exactly as written, less the coconut on the side and top, and it was divine. I normally wouldn't be one to make a white cake, or a lemon cake, as the only true examples I've had of those have been straight out of a box, but this cake was a true gem and a perfect ending to our Easter feast without being too heavy. I will definitely keep it in my recipe box and will be making it again!


Next time I'm going to figure out how to make a simple syrup with lavender to add to either the cake or the frosting or both. Lemon and lavender are two of my favorite flavor combinations . . . any suggestions on how to do it?


And a big thank you to Morven who hosted this month's challenge.


I'm looking forward to next month!

Perfect Party Cake

from "Baking: From My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure lemon extract



For the Buttercream

1 cup sugar

4 large egg whites

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract



For Finishing

2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable

About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut


Getting Ready

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.


To Make the Cake

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.


Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out cleanTransfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).


To Make the Buttercream

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.Remove the bowl from the heat.Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.


To Assemble the Cake

Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.Spread it with one third of the preserves.Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.


Serving

The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.


Storing

The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.


Fresh Berry Cake Option

If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Enjoy!