Perfect Love Cake

Happy Valentine's Day to Y'ALL..Hope your life is fulled of happy love. I've not updated my English blog for a big while..The reason why this blog is not updated coz it's so hard for me to write in English..hehe..anyway, if u are Thai, u can see my blog in Thai by visiting here .

For my this year Valentine's day, I found myself really into true love (that's what i think)..so here I am I've made a cake for my valentine which I named this cake, a Perfect Love Cake.

I just recently bought two new books that both author is Dorie Greenspan..so I use the receipe which called perfect party cake...i have seen this cake from many blogs..it looks awesome to me..

Here's the receipe which I addapted from Dorie Greenspan

(I got one small cake, 6" and another bigger but still small, 8")

For Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ¼ cups milk

152 g egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

2 tbsp grated lemon zest

113 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tsp fresh squeeze lemon juice

Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare one 6" round pan and one 8" round pan by butter them lightly and line bottom with parchment paper.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Combine milk and eggwhite together. (whisk them till it combine)

Whisk sugar and lemon zest then use your fingers rub them till it moist.

Add in butter and cream them with paddle attachment , medium speed for three minutes until lighter and fluffy.

Add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture and one teaspoon of lemon juice, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.

Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is just combined, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed.

Divide the batter into the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30-35 minutes (of couse my small 6" cake will be done before the bigger one), or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.

Transfer 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.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).

For the Buttercream:

1 cup sugar

152 g egg whites

339 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup fresh lemon juice + lime juice

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

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.The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.Remove the bowl from the heat.Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.On medium speed, gradually beat in more lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.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.

For finishing:

White Chocolate shaving

strawberry jelly sauce

heart shape red and dark brown fondant

heart shape pink hard sugar sprinkle

To Assemble the Cake

Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.Spread it with strawberry sauce.Cover the sauce evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.Top with another layer, spread with sauce and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer . Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Decorating with white chocolate and heart shape fondant on sides and spinkle with heart shape pink sprinkle.

Serving

The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – 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’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing

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 – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Have a good baking day.

Cheers!