Yellow Butter Cake

I borrowed a copy of Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America from the library last Fall and fell in love with it.  It's basically a How to Cook Everything for pastry - recipes for any kind of baked treat you could imagine (from breads to pies to custards) with suggested variations and loads of notes on techniques.  I was lucky enough to receive the book as a birthday present from Matt this year.

We had a lazy day at home this past Saturday so I thumbed through the book and stumbled across this cake.  I couldn't have asked for more.  A short list of ingredients that we already had and a recipe that was quick and easy enough.  Better yet, it turned out to be fantastic - the cake looks rich and dense but is actually light while still being very satisfying.  The frosting could probably be anything but I went with buttercream.  I actually halved the recipes and made a single-layered cake because there's no need for the two of us to eat four sticks of butter and three cups of sugar in the span of a week.  Anyway, I'm already looking forward to making it again.


(Amusing side story: While looking for our baking powder, I had to do a google image search to remember exactly what kind of container I was looking for.)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

3 1/2 cups cake flour (all-purpose is okay)

2 cups sugar

2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature, diced

1 cup milk, divided

4 large eggs

2 large egg whites

2 tsp vanilla extract

For the buttercream:

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

4 cups confectioners' sugar (could certainly use less)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and grease two 8-inch cake pans.  Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.  Add the butter and 1/2 a cup of milk and mix with a whisk till blended.  In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs, egg whites, 1/2 a cup of milk and the vanilla extract.  Add to the batter in 3 additions, mixing until blended after each addition. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake until the layers spring back when touched lightly in the center, 35-40 minutes (mine only took 27 minutes - guess we need to invest in an oven thermometer).

While the cake is cooling, make the buttercream.  Cream the butter (I used a spoon) until it is light in texture.  Add the sugar, vanilla and salt and mix (I use a whisk at this point) until the sugar and butter are blended.  Add the cream and whip until the buttercream is smooth and light.  I usually like the buttercream a little looser and will add a bit more cream.  Spread on the cake once it's completely cooled.  Mmm cake.