Recipe Talk

I hope someone has a wonderful recipe for a MOIST yellow cake. I made one it was DRY. Please help my son birthday is coming up and he would like a yellow cake with buttercream frosting. Annie

Sarah Phillips

Aug 20 2006,

www.baking911.com/asksarahbb/index.php?showtopic=930 - 177k -

near New York City, New York

THE ULTIMATE BUTTER CAKE RECIPE (UBC)

Makes 2, 9-inch cake layers, a 9 x 13-inch pan or 32 - 36 cupcakes.

Yield: approximately 8 cups batter

I created the Ultimate Butter Cake (buttercake) to be a rich, moist and tender treat because I was tired of eating dry, flavorless cakes. It has a fine to medium crumb in texture and is somewhat dense, but much lighter than a pound cake. Many brides have selected this for use in a wedding cake because it can be made in so many flavors (and is quite flavorful) and doesn't need a lot of trimming. It can be easily filled and frosted with many types of recipes and decorated or served plain with fruit. It's now my family's favorite all-occasion cake!

I use ingredients right from the refrigerator when I bake most of my recipes, except with chocolate from the freezer, because I have found that the friction from the beaters quickly warms them. I believe that the step of using room temperature ingredients in a recipe makes them too warm, and is old-fashioned, necessary when cakes were mixed by hand. I do not see a difference on how recipes come out when using ingredients cold, right from the refrigerator, when using electric mixers of today.

Take the Ultimate Butter Cake Step-by-Step Baking Lesson. Frost cake with Tami's Buttercream! Oh, la! la! (The UBC in the pictures, above, is being frosted and filled with my Seven Minute Almond Icing Recipe)
CAKE HELP

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups (17.64 ounces - 500.09 grams) unbleached all purpose flour -- spoon into measuring cup and level to top
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk (use cold; does not have to be at room temperature)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract; optional 1/2 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon orange or lemon extract or 1 tablespoon grated orange or 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon peel or 1/4 teaspoon citrus oil

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter (use cold; does not have to be at room temperature )
2 cups sugar -- or superfine sugar
3 large eggs -- (use cold; does not have to be at room temperature )

NOTE: Cake is mixed using a 325 watt KitchenAid Mixer. If you are using a more powerful one, adjust the mixing times downward or use the descriptions rather than mixing times with the instructions, otherwise the baked cake will fall apart and/or crumble or dome in the middle from overmixing.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Position the oven shelf in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 9-inch, preferably light colored, heavy NOT nonstick pans. (If you use dark, nonstick baking pans or ovenproof, Pyrex glass pans, be sure to reduce the oven heat by 25 degrees F).

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Add the vanilla to the milk and set aside.

3. Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, on low until softened. (If the butter is cold, it will warm quickly from the beaters - taking about 60 seconds). Add the sugar in a steady stream at the side of the bowl. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes until light yellow and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the side and bottom of the bowl with a large rubber spatula.

4. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time and beat for 20 seconds after each addition. After the eggs have been added, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the mixture for 2 minutes. (If the eggs are cold, the batter will curdle slightly. It's ok. It will come together as the batter warms from the beaters. ) Set the kitchen timer to help you keep track of the time. The mixture will become fluffy and aerated.

5. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in 3 equal portions, alternating with the milk in 2 equal portions, beginning and ending with the flour. (If the milk is cold, the batter will curdle slightly. It's ok. It will come together when you add the flour.)

Add the flour and liquid ingredients in increments quickly; do not wait in between additions too long as you don't want to overmix the batter.

After completing the last addition of flour, stop the mixer, and scrape the side and bottom of the bowl with a large rubber spatula. Then, let the mixer run for 30 seconds on LOW. The batter should look mixed as in the picture below. STOP the mixer. Do NOT overmix.

6. Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer. With a large rubber spatula, give the batter ONE or TWO quick folds to incorporate any stray flour or milk left at the sides and bottom of the bowl. Then, STOP!

7. Divide the batter in the prepared baking pans (should fill 1/2 full) and lightly smooth the tops. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top feels firm and gives slightly when touched and will shrink slightly from the side of the pan. The cake will be slightly browned. If you insert a toothpick in the middle and remove, there should be a few moist crumbs attached, but not batter. The cakes will have a slight dome and small cracks on top right when it comes from the oven, but as the cakes cool, they will flatten on top and the tiny cracks will disappear.

NOTE: The cake can be baked in a 9 x 13 x 2-inch, greased cake pan, taking 45 - 55 minutes to bake. Cupcakes take 20 - 30 minutes to bake.

~ The cake will be slightly domed with tiny cracks when it first comes from the oven. ~

8. Remove cakes to cool on wire racks for 10 to 15 minutes and then unmold onto wire cake racks, right-side-up, to cool thoroughly. Be careful, the cakes are delicate when warm.

~ The cake layers need no trimming before stacking because they do cool flat. Here are two layers, one stacked on top of the other with filling in between. I could have torted each layer and filled in between, if deisred. Each layer was baked in 1, 9 x 2-inch baking pan.

VARIATIONS:
To make one, 9-inch layer:

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour -- spoon into measuring cup and level to top
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups whole or 2% milk (use cold; does not have to be at room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract with 1/4 teaspoon almond extract or 1/2 teaspoon orange or lemon extract or 2 teaspoons grated orange or 1 teaspoons lemon peel or 1/4 teaspoon citrus oil

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (use cold; does not have to be at room temperature )
1 cup sugar -- or superfine sugar
1 1/2 large (1 large egg plus 2 tablespoons of a lightly beaten egg) eggs* -- (use cold; does not have to be at room temperature )

*Question: I want to make one 9-inch layer and this recipes make 2, 9-inch layers. How so I halve the 3 whole eggs called for in the full recipe?

Answer: When you cut a recipe in half and you need a number of eggs such as one and a half, you usually don't halve the second one but add it in as a whole egg. But this recipe doesn't bake well if you do; it works best if you halve one of the eggs. Each large egg is approximately 4 tablespoons. To halve 3 eggs, use 1 egg plus 2 tablespoons of a second large egg; thoroughly whisk the second egg before measuring. Let the bubbles subside. It may be hard to measure because the whites in eggs are slippery. Save the rest in the refrigerator and toss later in an omelet or scrambled eggs!

Follow the mixing instructions for the 2, 9-inch layers, above. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.

BUTTERCREAM ICING

-----------------------

1/2 c. solid vegetable
shortening

1/2 c. butter or margarine

1 lb. (4 c.) confectioners
sugar

2 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream shortening and butter; add sugar, water and
vanilla. Blend on medium speed until all ingredients are well
mixed. Blend an additional minute or so until creamy.
To make Chocolate Buttercream Icing: Follow recipe and
add 3 ounces of melted unsweetened chocolate and 1 tablespoon
more milk. This recipes yields 3 cups of stiff buttercream
icing. Stiff icing used to make flowers. Medium icing used to
make borders (beat 1 teaspoon milk to 1 cup of stiff icing).
Thin icing used to frost cake (beat 1 teaspoons milk into 1 cup
of stiff icing).

---------------

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

----------------------

1 lb. box 10x sugar

1/2 c. soft butter or
margarine

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 to 4 Tbsp. milk

Cream 1/3 sugar with butter. Add salt. Blend extract,
2 tablespoons milk and remaining sugar in mixture. Gradually
stir remaining milk into frosting until desired spreading
consistency is reached. Frosting enough for 2 (9-inch) layers.