{"id":96,"date":"2008-03-30T20:15:25","date_gmt":"2008-03-31T02:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2008\/03\/30\/perfect-party-cake\/"},"modified":"2008-03-30T20:15:25","modified_gmt":"2008-03-31T02:15:25","slug":"perfect-party-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2008\/03\/30\/perfect-party-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfect Party Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This month&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/daringbakersblogroll.blogspot.com\/\">Daring Bakers&#8217;<\/a> challenge, hosted by <a href=\"http:\/\/foodartandrandomthoughts.blogspot.com\/\">Morven<\/a>, was Dorie Greenspan&#8217;s Perfect Party Cake.\u00c2\u00a0 I made this cake for Easter dinner with my husband&#8217;s family.\u00c2\u00a0 One of the neat things about this recipe is its flexibility because this basic recipe can be adapted with many different fillings, fresh berries, and other toppings.\u00c2\u00a0 I opted to make the recipe exactly as written for my first attempt, with the lemon in the cake and buttercream, raspberry preserves, and coconut topping.\u00c2\u00a0 Although I have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/10\/inside-out-german-chocolate-cake\/\">some experience with layer cakes<\/a> (though clearly need more practice, as you will see from the pictures), this was my first time making a buttercream containing egg whites.\u00c2\u00a0 I was definitely a little leery of this step, not only because I wanted to make sure the egg whites were cooked sufficiently, but also because I&#8217;ve never had very good luck beating egg whites into &#8220;stiff peaks.&#8221;\u00c2\u00a0 Turns out my KitchenAid mixer was all I needed to beat those egg whites into submission-no more hand mixer for me!\u00c2\u00a0 I was only able to take one teensy bite of the cake&#8211;I can&#8217;t eat eggs for the next few months (long story), and this recipe calls for 8 egg whites.\u00c2\u00a0 The lemon flavor was much stronger than I cared for, though my husband and his family all seemed to like it.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;m also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2008\/03\/24\/raspberry-swirl-cookies\/\">not a big fan of raspberry preserves<\/a>, but I think some fresh strawberries would be delicious!\u00c2\u00a0 I think my taste-testers probably would have preferred no coconut&#8230;or at least less of it.\u00c2\u00a0 This recipe is a great basic layer cake recipe, and I look forward to playing around with it again in the future.\u00c2\u00a0 Check out all the other beautiful cakes at the <a href=\"http:\/\/daringbakersblogroll.blogspot.com\/\">Daring Bakers blogroll<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/perfect-party-cake.jpg\" title=\"perfect-party-cake.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/perfect-party-cake.jpg\" alt=\"perfect-party-cake.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Perfect Party Cake<\/h4>\n<p><u>Words From Dorie<\/u><\/p>\n<p>Stick a bright-coloured Post-it to this page, so you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll always know where to turn for a just-right cake for any celebration. The original recipe was given to me by my great dear friend Nick Malgieri, of baking fame, and since getting it, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found endless opportunities to make it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you will too. The cake is snow white, with an elegant tight crumb and an easygoing nature: it always bakes up perfectly; it is delicate on the tongue but sturdy in the kitchen \u00e2\u20ac\u201c no fussing when it comes to slicing the layers in half or cutting tall, beautiful wedges for serving; and, it tastes just as you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d want a party cake to taste \u00e2\u20ac\u201c special. The base recipe is for a cake flavoured with lemon, layered with a little raspberry jam and filled and frosted with a classic (and so simple) pure white lemony hot-meringue buttercream but, because the elements are so fundamental, they lend themselves to variation (see Playing Around), making the cake not just perfect, but also versatile.<\/p>\n<p>Ingredients:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 1\/4 cups cake flour<\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon baking powder<\/li>\n<li>\u00c2\u00bd teaspoon salt<\/li>\n<li>1 \u00c2\u00bc cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)<\/li>\n<li>4 large egg whites<\/li>\n<li>1 \u00c2\u00bd cups sugar<\/li>\n<li>2 teaspoons grated lemon zest<\/li>\n<li>1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature<\/li>\n<li>\u00c2\u00bd teaspoon pure lemon extract<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Buttercream:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 cup sugar<\/li>\n<li>4 large egg whites<\/li>\n<li>3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature<\/li>\n<li>\u00c2\u00bc<strong> <\/strong>cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For Finishing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2\/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable<\/li>\n<li>About 1 \u00c2\u00bd cups sweetened shredded coconut<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Directions:<\/p>\n<p><u>Getting Ready<\/u>: 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.<\/p>\n<p><u>To Make the Cake<\/u>: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.\u00c2\u00a0 Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.<strong>\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>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.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.\u00c2\u00a0 Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.\u00c2\u00a0 Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.\u00c2\u00a0 Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.\u00c2\u00a0 Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean<br \/>\nTransfer 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.\u00c2\u00a0 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).<\/p>\n<p><u>To Make the Buttercream<\/u>: 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.\u00c2\u00a0 The sugar should be dissolved,  and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.\u00c2\u00a0 Remove the bowl from the heat.\u00c2\u00a0 Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.\u00c2\u00a0 Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just keep beating and it will come together again.<br \/>\nOn medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n<p><u>To Assemble the Cake<\/u>: Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.<br \/>\nPut one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.\u00c2\u00a0 Spread it with one third of the preserves.\u00c2\u00a0 Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.\u00c2\u00a0 Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).\u00c2\u00a0 Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.\u00c2\u00a0 Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.<\/p>\n<p><u>Serving<\/u>: The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.<\/p>\n<p><u>Storing<\/u>: 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 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n<p><u>Playing Around<\/u>: Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves \u00e2\u20ac\u201c cherry or strawberry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.<\/p>\n<p><u>Fresh Berry Cake<\/u>: If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator \u00e2\u20ac\u201c let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2008\/03\/30\/perfect-party-cake\/\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month&#8217;s Daring Bakers&#8217; challenge, hosted by Morven, was Dorie Greenspan&#8217;s Perfect Party Cake.\u00c2\u00a0 I made this cake for Easter dinner with my husband&#8217;s family.\u00c2\u00a0 One of the neat things about this recipe is its flexibility because this basic recipe can be adapted with many different fillings, fresh berries, and other toppings.\u00c2\u00a0 I opted to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,41,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cake","category-daring-bakers","category-dessert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}