July 28th cake

I've been thinking about this for about a week and a half because it's my BIRTHDAY CAKEEEEE. Because baking is like rully important to me, this cake was destined to be a winner from the start. Everyone I talked to laughed when I said I was making my own cake, but the way I see it... why would I leave it in the hands of someone else? That way if it came out horribly I would have only myself to blame....

But it came out great, so no worries. Like, super great. So great that Lanie asked if I got it at Whole Foods. Lol'ing.


For the cake:

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup hot (but not boiling) water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons white vinegar

For the raspberry bit:

1/2 pint fresh raspberries

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon gelatin

For the heavenly lemon frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

zest of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups confectioner's sugar

5 drops lemon essential oil

2 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter cupcake rounds; dust with cocoa, tapping out excess. Set aside. Whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.

Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds. Mix in the hot water until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks. Using your fingers, take one cupcake and crumble it into tiny crumbs to be used as a garnish for later. Set aside.

While the cakes are baking, make the raspberry bit. In a small saucepan, melt butter on a low heat. Add raspberries, stir. Add brown sugar, lemon juice, and gelatin and heat until the berries break apart into a soupy consistency, about 3 minutes. Pour into small ramekin and allow to cool in a refrigerator for approximately 2 hours.

Next, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, whip butter and egg yolks with an electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla extract, lemon essential oil, and lemon zest and mix until combined. Add in confectioner's sugar in 3 batches, mixing between each addition. Let sit at room temperature before frosting!

Place one cake on a cake stand, spread raspberry bit on top. Place the second cake on top. Frost the entire thing with the lemon frosting. YAAY JULY 28TH!

Cake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart. Frosting/jam by me!

Caroline's train cake

I made a cake. And a train. It's kind of a train cake. I used this basic pound cake recipe, and a store-bought buttercream (dis one!), and some food coloring. The "C-E-A" is a take on the A-C-E trains on the NYC subway system, only C-E-A are the initials of my friend Caroline. Though Caroline is a now 20 year old girl, this cake is perfect for 6 year old boys. Or girls. Whatever floats your boat. Regardless, it's really adorable and I'm proud of the result :)


For the train:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup canola or safflower oil
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour into a standard-sized loaf pan and bake for ~35 minutes, or until knife comes out clean when inserted into pan. Let cool completely.

While the cake is baking, separate frosting into two parts (one should be 1 cup, the other should be 3 cups). One will be fore the main layer of the cake and the rest will be used for piping later on. Dye the larger 3 cups the color of your choice for the outside color of the train. Set aside.

On a cutting board, using a serrated knife, skim off the sides of the pound cake so the sides form a 90° angle with the board. Then, slowly frost each side, being careful to keep the buttercream even. Once the cake is frosted, put into a fridge for 30 minutes so the buttercream can harden (this will make it easier to pipe later on).

Use the remaining 1 cup of frosting to decorate the cake as you please. Obviously, I separated that 1 cup into 3 colors and did my piping thang. I used a 3 mm piping tip.

The rest of the cake is really open to creativity! So do what you'd like and happy trails!!