Cake Two

Well, the week is up, but the cakes are still coming. Here's the second cake of the three and its a good one.

This is the cake I make every year for one of my daughter’s birthday. It is the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for vanilla cupcakes, but it is simple enough to make it in two 9-inch cake pans instead. It may be vanilla, but it isn’t plain or boring… it is very rich and buttery. I have to frost it with cream cheese frosting which I’ll happily admit may be a little over the top, because this future foodie daughter of mine tasted cream cheese frosting for the first time a few years ago and announced, “It is so good, I could die.”

The beauty of this recipe is that it is a snap. There are no fussy extra steps and it is so easy you’ll wonder why you haven’t been whipping up cakes like this for years.

Yellow Cake with cream cheese frosting
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Jan/Feb 2003


CAKE

1 1/2 (7.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Line with parchment paper circle and butter and flour that.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
3. Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake until the cake tops are pale gold and a toothpick or skewer insterted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, 25-35 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes. Carefully turn out of pans onto racks and let cool completely.
4. Frost with chocolate frosting or cream cheese frosting.


FROSTING

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups (1 pound) confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Put cream cheese and butter into bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat together, starting on slow speed and increasing to medium until well combined, about a minute. Add vanilla and mix on medium speed for another 30 seconds.

2. Add confectioners sugar and mix on slow speed until sugar is fully incorporated. Run on medium for the last 30 seconds until frosting appears smooth and satiny.