Josh's Perfect Party Cake!

Saturday was Josh's 21st birthday. Yeah yeah, I'm a cradle robber! He's about 1 1/2 years younger than me. But you wouldn't know it by looking at us! Most people say he looks 5 years older than me easily. That could be because I look 16. Or it could be because of his massively cool beard. Haha ANYWAY! He asked me to make him a lemon raspberry cake. Soooo of course I had to return to Dorie's Perfect Party Cake. The first time I made this cake was for a Daring Bakers challenge. I had to make it again because it's fabulous! I added a secret ingredient to make it more moist (scroll down to the recipe if you wanna know!). Dorie's Swiss meringue buttercream was yummy, despite my mistake of using salted butter... OOPS! However, next time I'll use my own recipe for SMBC because mine has less butter. I used Braswell's seedless black raspberry preserves for the filling. It's the most delicious preserve I've ever tasted. You can find it almost all the time at TJ Maxx! Overall this cake is a 10 out of 10!

Ooh yeah, we sliced it before we sang. We were excited to eat it! :D

FIRST BITE!!Oh oh me next!!

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours.

Perfect Party Cake
For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I used milk)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I zested a whole lemon)
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
4 tablespoons buttermilk powder (My secret ingredient!)

For the Buttercream (This is just enough to thinly frost the cake, but if you want to enough to play around with, go ahead and times the recipe by 1.5)
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I recommend reducing this to 2 sticks [1 stick for every 2 whites is my general rule])
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons) (I used 2 teaspoons lemon extract)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I omitted this)

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable (I used slightly less [just enough to thinly coat each cake layer] and it was just the right amount of flavor)
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut (I omitted this; Josh isn't a huge coconut fan)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans (I used 8x2) and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt (and buttermilk powder, if using). 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 (This sounds opposite of what most cake recipes tell you, but DO IT!). 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 Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes (160F on a candy thermometer). The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream (unless you whisked the eff out of it, it won't look like marshmallow cream YET!). 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 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 the 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.

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 1/3 of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about 1/4 of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top (This cake is super crumbly, so I recommend doing a thin crumb coat first). Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

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.