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Posts Tagged ‘cake’

Vanilla Bean Cake

Posted in Cakes, tagged , , on December 14, 2011| 2 Comments »

We celebrated this little cake eater’s first birthday on Saturday.

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He did not disappoint when it came to diving into that cake.

Can you blame him? It was delicious!

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Little Noah got a three layered 6-inch round cake, and I made an 8-inch cake for the rest of us.

The cake was filled with one of my favorites: instant fudge frosting, and then frosted with a basic vanilla buttercream.  Since there’s butter in that buttercream (duh!) the frosting was a little yellow.  I wanted a white contrast with the sprinkles so I added some Americolor white food coloring.  Did you know they make white food coloring?  It really does make a difference.

I ordered up a bunch of sprinkles from Fancy Flours (love them!) and made my own custom mix that matched the colors of the invitation.  It was an embarrassingly easy way to decorate, with results that I absolutely loved.

Back to the cake for a second. Simply put, it is moist, dense and delicious.  Thin slices seem to go a long way.  If you’re looking for a white cake to bake, this may just become a new favorite.

Vanilla Bean Cake
Yield: three 8-inch round layers

printer friendly recipe

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature 2 2/3 cups (540 g) granulated sugar
9 egg whites room temperature
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 vanilla bean, split & scraped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350.  Butter three 8-inch round cake pans, line with parchment rounds, and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until lighter in color and slightly increased in volume, 3 to 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium and add the egg whites gradually, mixing until fully incorporated.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Mix vanilla extract and scrapings from the vanilla bean into buttermilk.  Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk into creamed mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated or finish by hand gently.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. If possible, weigh the batter in each cake pan on a digital kitchen scale to ensure even layers.  Smooth with small offset palette knife, and bake for about 30 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick or skewer comes clean.

Let pans cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert cakes onto racks, gently, peeling away parchment rounds. Let cool completely.

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Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake & A GIVEAWAY!

Posted in Cakes, tagged , , , on August 9, 2011| 18 Comments »

Well, it’s taken FAR too long to get to this point, but this, my friends, is Double Batch’s 100th post!

So to celebrate and say thanks for reading, I’m giving away a little something.
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Isn’t she lovely?  It’s the Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Original bunt pan.  I’ve got one, and it’s pretty sweet…at least for a bundt pan.

I do love a bundt cake, simply because they rarely require any frosting.  Sure, you might add a glaze or a dusting of powdered sugar, but that’s much more simple (and faster, and cleaner!) that having to frost a double layer cake.  The shape of the cake is all the decoration you need.  Love that.

Here’s how to enter:

  • Leave a comment on this post telling me about what your favorite camping food is.  We’re heading up to the mountains next week (yes, with an 8 month old), and I always love new food ideas.
  • For additional entries, comment on up to 5 posts on this blog.  I’d love to get feedback on recipes that you’ve made and liked or just want to make. Each comment will earn you an entry.
  • You have until noon (PST) on SATURDAY to enter.  I’ll announce the winner on Sunday.

Now, to the heart of this 100th post, I’m sharing with you one of my most favorites.

This recipe is always a winner.  Lemon and blueberry were just meant to go together.  My recipe gives instructions about a glaze to finish it off, but if you’re in a hurry or glazing just isn’t your thing, dust the cake with a little powdered sugar.  Either way, you’ll LOVE this sweet creation!

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Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
adapted slightly from Martha Stewart

printer friendly recipe

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries and zest

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

2 cups blueberries

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

Lemon glaze (optional, see below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of sour cream.

In a bowl, toss blueberries and zest with remaining teaspoon flour; gently fold into batter. Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.

Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up. Dust with confectioners’ sugar or glaze when cooled.

For the lemon glaze:  Whisk ¼ cup fresh lemon juice and 2 cups confectioner’s sugar (add more for thicker glaze) together. Mix until all the sugar has dissolved and there are no longer lumps. Drizzle glaze over the cake.

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The BEST Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Posted in Cakes, Chocolate, Frostings, tagged , , , on September 30, 2009| 3 Comments »

I’d throw a party for my newly created blog except I’ve spent so much time getting it up and figuring out WordPress that there’s too many other things things to do.  Yes laundry I hear you calling.  Well, that, and the fact that I’m not one to really throw a party for myself OR my blog.  But, that doesn’t mean a cake isn’t in order for the occasion.  So, here it is: the best yellow cake.

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There’s a dessert place here in town where you can order their  ‘Best Yellow Cake’.  Well, I’m telling you this one is a WAY BETTER best yellow cake.  If you’re totally loyal to Betty Crocker, and I can’t convince you to make your own cake, at least make your own frosting.  This frosting will make you a believer.  You’ll never go back to buying it again.

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BETTER Best Yellow Cake
from The Well-Decorated Cake

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups ( granulated sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups  buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Butter and line with parchment paper two 8-inch round cake pans. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut up the butter into 1-inch pieces and place them in the large bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or beaters. Beat for 3 minutes on MEDIUM-HIGH speed until the butter is light and creamy in color. Stop and scrape the bowl. Cream the butter for an additional 60 seconds.

Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time.

Reduce the mixer speed. Stir vanilla into the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a knife. Lift up the pan with the batter, and let it drop onto the counter top to burst any air bubbles, allowing the batter to settle.

Center the pans onto the lower third of the oven and let bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is lightly brown on top and comes away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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*Note: I split the cake layers and added raspberry preserves.  But I’ve made this cake without doing that too.  If you’re really a frosting fan, split the layers and use frosting.  You can’t go wrong with three layers of frosting on the inside, right?

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Cool completely and frost generously.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
adapted from More from Magnolia

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1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter
2 tablespoons milk
9 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar

In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy about 3 minutes.  Add the milk carefully and beat until smooth.  Add the melted chocolate and beat well, about 2 minutes.  Add the vanilla and beat for 3 minutes.  Gradually add the sugar and beat on low speed until creamy and of desired consistency.

Makes enough for a 2-layer 8-  or 9-inch cake or 2 dozen cupcakes.

Oh, and if you’ve got extra frosting, make some graham cracker sandwiches with it.  I love them frozen!

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