White Colorful Cake

I have been on a search for a delicious white cake for a while now.  So when I saw this cake over at Whisk Kid, I knew I needed to make my version of it.  I just needed an awesome reason to make it.  Then my aunt came to town for her birthday. Perfect.

This white cake is delicious.  It filled 3 8” pans perfectly, and when I took it out of the oven, I was so impressed by how little a hump it had in the middle. Barely had to shave any off to make them level for stacking.
I also have been wanting to use some new tips I just got, and practice flowers.  For the big flowers I used wilton tip 2D, the little ones are tip 224. The middles of the flowers are tip 2. The polka dots are tip 4.

Isn’t it such a fun cake? The different colored layers just add a silly element as soon as you cut into it! I loved it

White Cake
This will be my ‘go to’ white cake from now on, that’s how much I liked it.
2 sticks butter, room temp (I use salted, then omit the salt later on)
2 1/3 C sugar
5 egg whites, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 C flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/2 c milk, warmed for 30 sec in microwave to bring to room temp
Red, orange, yellow, or any combination of food coloring you like! just make sure it’s gel. My personal favorite is AmeriColor, they come in little squeeze bottles. Genius!

• Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. (I did 325 because I live in CO, and I think that helped with it not rising as much) Prepare 8” cake pans, as many as you have.  I like to cut wax paper out to fit in the bottom of the pan, then I spray baker’s joy all around.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Cream the sugar and butter, then add the egg whites one at a time, letting each one mix in. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
• Then, alternating between wet and dry, add the flour mixture and milk. I always start and end with the flour, so you will have 3 additions of flour, and 2 of milk.
• Divide the batter amongst 3 bowls (I just put a 1/2 C of batter into each bowl continuously until they were about even.) Add the food coloring of choice, and stir it up. The color of the unbaked batter will be the color of the baked batter. Pour into the pans and bake for about 28 minutes each.
• When you remove them from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack, in the pan, for ten minutes. After that flip the out and let them cool completely.

Lemony Swiss Meringue Buttercream
step by step instructions on swiss meringue butter cream This recipe is delicious.  If you haven’t tried Swiss meringue buttercream, I highly recommend it!  It is very rich and buttery. It makes it good for stacking cakes because it’s stable, and I liked piping with it as well.  This recipe made the perfect amount for me to fill, cover and pipe the 3 layer 8” cake, with a little bit to spare.
9 egg whites
1 ¾ c sugar
4 sticks of butter, Cut into 1 Tblsp pieces, room temp
2 tsp lemon extract

• You want a double boiler, so get a small saucepan and heat water over medium heat.  Put the egg whites and sugar in a bowl that can sit in the pan (but doesn’t touch the water).  Whisk the whites and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. You can tell this by rubbing a little bit between your fingers.  It it is all smooth, then the sugar is dissolved.
• Once it is smooth transfer to a standing mixer, and whip on high speed until it comes to room temp.  One way to tell is by touching the bottom of the bowl, if the bowl is still warm, keep whipping.
• Turn the mixer to med-low and add the pieces of butter one at a time, letting them incorporate before adding the next.
• Once they are all added, turn it back up to high, and whip until it all comes together, about 5 minutes.
• Add the extract and mix in, then use!