Cake..For a Night In

Freshly frosted.

Happy Monday! This weekend, my husband and I decided to have a spontaneous (and delicious) special night in. I made paella (see recipe tomorrow), but felt there was something missing - dessert perhaps? What is a pastry chef to do??!! I whipped up a cake, of course! Dense and moist white cake, exploding with rainbow sprinkles, filled with caramel cream cheese frosting and topped with delicious vanilla cream cheese. YUM. So today's post includes 2 recipes for white cake because...why not? Sometimes you just need to make yourself a cake. Enjoy!

Now it's your turn!

Party on the inside!

Triple-Layer White Cake with Orange Curd Filling and Frosting
Bon Appetit, February 2003

Ingredients
Orange Curd

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup orange juice
• 9 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons grated orange peel
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Cake

• 2 3/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 cups plus 2/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 large egg whites

Frosting

• 10 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups powdered sugar

Directions

For orange curd:

1. Place lemon juice in small bowl or custard cup. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 15 minutes.
2. Whisk sugar, orange juice, yolks, orange peel, and lemon peel in heavy large saucepan to blend. Add butter. Whisk over medium heat until curd thickens and bubbles begin to appear at edges, about 9 minutes. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture. Whisk until gelatin dissolves. Transfer curd to small bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd. Chill overnight.

For cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Sift flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk oil and egg yolks in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in sour cream, then milk, orange peel, and vanilla. Whisk in dry ingredients in 3 additions. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 2/3 cup sugar, beating until whites are stiff but not dry; fold into batter in 4 additions. Divide batter among prepared pans.
2. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 5 minutes. Cut around pan sides. Turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely. Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on 8-inch tart pan bottom or platter. Spread 1 cup curd over. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread 1 cup curd over. Top with third cake layer, flat side down. Cover; refrigerate assembled cake.

For frosting:

1. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in medium bowl until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar, then 3/4 cup orange curd. Spread frosting over cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; refrigerate.)

Classic White Cake

Perfect Cakes, Nick Malgieri

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup milk
• Two 9-inch round cake pans, buttered and bottoms lined with buttered parchment or wax paper

Directions

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, mixing well.
3. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until very soft and light. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Whisk together the egg whites and milk by hand in a medium mixing bowl until just combined.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-quarter of the flour mixture, then one-third of the milk mixture, stopping and scraping down the bowl and beater after each addition. Beat in another quarter of the flour, then another third of the milk mixture. Scrape again. Repeat with another quarter of the flour and the remaining milk mixture; scrape. Finally, beat in the remaining flour mixture.
6. Scrape the bowl well with a large rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the tops.
7. Bake the layers for about 30 to 35 minutes, until they are well risen and firm and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool the layers in the pans on racks for 5 minutes, then unmold onto racks to finish cooling right side up.

Storage: If you are going to use the layers the day you bake them, wrap in plastic and keep them at room temperature. Double-wrap and freeze for longer storage.

Happy baking!