Yes, you read that correctly. I call this the death cake. It was my take on The Brown Eyed Baker's take on Dorie Greenspan's "Perfect Party Cake". A lovely white cake infused with lemon. Filled with raspberry jam and raspberry swirled cream cheese frosting. Topped with more frosting and fresh raspberries. It had so much potential, and all of the pieces were delicious by themselves, but when combined, this cake would've killed a diabetic. Waayyy to sweet to be enjoyable. Beautiful on the inside and out, but I'm definitely going to have to tweak the recipe before I try to serve it to anyone again. The worst thing about this cake is that I made it for a friend's 23rd birthday. Thankfully, he's not a diabetic, but I still felt bad that I served him an unhappy birthday cake. Well, there's always next year. Here's the link to Brown Eyed Baker's original post: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/03/29/daring-bakers-perfect-party-cake/My biggest issue with the cake was definitely the frosting. I've never made a cream cheese frosting before, but this one hardened up and was very gritty. The flavor was amazing, but it was too much for a whole cake. Also, you may want to try using a sugar-free raspberry jam for the filling. Cut out sugar wherever you can!
P.S. you probably won't hear me say that very often.
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| Raspberry swirled cream cheese frosting for the filling |
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| I never took a picture of the inside of the cake. Far too traumatized by the sugar rush to think clearly. This is the Brown Eyed Baker's version, but mine actually looked similar! |
For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable [I used raspberry jam]
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut [I omitted this]
Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, 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).
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 one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the frosting.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and frosting and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have frosting leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining frosting to frost the sides and top.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
(Adapted from quirky cupcake)
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
8 cups powdered sugar
In a medium mixing bowl combine cream cheese, butter and orange juice. Beat on low to medium until light and fluffy. Gradually add 4 cups powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in the remaining powdered sugar until frosting reaches spreading consistency.
For the filling, add 2oz of fresh raspberries to about half of the frosting. Mix on low until the raspberries are broken up and you have a nice swirl.
