Let's Celebrate

It seems only fitting to celebrate the first anniversary of Kitchen and Cake with a cake. This past year had been such fun sharing recipes and life in and out of the kitchen with you. Readers from all over the globe have visited my blog. I do hope you enjoy it and will continue to visit and share it with your friends. Thank you!

This cake is a classic in our household. When we aren't quite sure if we are in the mood for vanilla or chocolate, (personally I'm always in the mood for chocolate) this is a nice compromise. The cake has a rich, buttery vanilla flavor thanks to a generous tablespoon of vanilla extract. Make sure to use the best quality butter and vanilla since they are the stars of the show. 

The chocolate frosting has a tendency to make people swoon. The whole combination often moves the room to silence punctuated by utterances of mmm.

Start with butter and eggs that are at room temperature, so the butter is nice and soft. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla scraping down the bowl a few times to make sure the batter is well mixed.

Alternate adding the sifted, dry ingredients and the buttermilk with the mixer on low speed, so you don't create a plume of flour dust or splash buttermilk all over the place.

Be careful not to over-mix the batter, so the cake texture stays soft and tender.

Bake until the cakes are golden and a tester comes out clean

Bring cream, corn syrup, and butter to a simmer stirring to combine. Add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Don't be concerned about the small amount of corn syrup. It helps give the frosting a luscious, creamy texture. It is not high fructose corn syrup, just regular old light corn syrup.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool completely before beating with a mixer. Beat until lightened and holds a soft peak. Fill and frost the cake.

Classic Yellow Celebration Cake

1 1/2 cups (12 ounces/339 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups (400 g) sugar
6 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups (420 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 fl ounces/240 ml) buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175 ℃). Butter the sides and bottom of 2, 9-inch (23-cm) round cake pans with softened butter then line with parchment paper and dust with flour.

Cream softened butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl a few times. Mix in vanilla extract.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk in three parts with the mixer on low speed. Mix just until combined. Scrap down bowl once or twice, but don’t over mix.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake on the center rake for 35-45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

Cool cakes in the pans on a baking rake. Remove from pan and frost with Fabulous Fudge Frosting when completely cooled. The cakes without frosting may be cooled, wrapped tightly and refrigerated for a few days or frozen for a few weeks. Defrost before icing the cake.

Fabulous Fudge Frosting

1 1/4 cups (310 ml) heavy cream
1/4 cup (62.5 g) light corn syrup
1/4 cup (2 ounces/56.5 g) unsalted butter
1 pound (16 ounces/460 g) bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Combine cream, corn syrup, and unsalted butter in a large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until mixture starts to simmer. Reduce heat to low and add chocolate. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat transfer to a large bowl to cool. When completely cool beat with a hand-held mixture until frosting is thick enough to hold soft peaks. If you need to speed the cooling process you can stir the chocolate mixture over an ice bath remove before beating with the mixer. 

I wish I could share a slice with each and every one of you. Enjoy!