Thursday, November 3, 2011

Yellow Butter Cake with Chocolate Frosting

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Making and decorating cakes are definitely something I need a lot of practice with. Last year I took a cake decorating class through Wilton at a local bakery. And while it really seemed to help, I still have a long way to go. But as they say, practice makes perfect! And if that means making a ton of cakes to perfect these decorating skills, then so be it ;)

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So one of my co-workers has a birthday coming up this weekend and we decided to celebrate it this week. My boss asked if I would be willing to make a cake. She knows she can always come to me for baking needs! The birthday girl is a dessert-fan in general so I knew I could make anything and she would be happy! I finally landed on this yellow butter cake with delicious chocolate frosting! This is such a classic combo and an easy thing when you're just starting out on cakes as well. My decorating skills still need a lot of work, I didn't want to ruin the cake with my botched flowers so I kept it pretty plain and simple. But the taste was there and she loved it, so thats all that really matters!

Oh, and a side note. I got this recipe from Annie's Eats however I didn't feel too comfortable making the original frosting posted. I don't know what intimated me about it but I just didn't feel comfortable making it. I had this feeling it just wouldn't turn out and I was also tired when making this after a long day of work. So I opted for another chocolate frosting from Annie on a different cake that I also want to desperately try soon!

Yellow Butter Cake
Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing pans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pans
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk

Directions:
To make the cakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Butter and flour the edges of the pans, tapping out the excess; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk together to blend well and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk. Beat each addition just until incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until the cakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pans to help remove the cakes. Invert the cakes onto the rack and peel off the parchment. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting. Level the cakes if necessary.

Source: Recipe from Annie's Eats , originally from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

To make the frosting, melt the butter in a medium bowl. Stir in the cocoa. Alternately add confectioners’ sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

Source: Recipe from Annie's Eats

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