Thursday, October 24, 2013

Homemade Funfetti Cake

homemade funfetti cake4
Fall is a busy time around my house. Lots of birthdays and lots of holidays. You thought dieting was hard for you – it’s nearly impossible in my house, 2 birthdays in October, 1 in November, and now with our newest addition next year we’ll also be celebrating in September. Not to mention Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and all the treats and goodies that come with them.

Well this week was Ben’s birthday, he turned 2! He’s not much of a talker just yet, so I took it upon myself to choose what kind of cake to make him. I know, tough job, right? hehe. My personal favorite cake is funfetti. After Andrew’s cake success, I wanted to give it a go again making a cake from scratch.

homemade funfetti cake2

This one wasn't a complete success (I'm not much of a baker, if you couldn't tell), I’m not sure what I did wrong. I was lazy and just baked all the batter in one cake pan instead of borrowing a second. I’m not sure if that made it more dense or if I messed up something in the recipe. Maybe I over baked? I’m not sure, but the pictures from the original recipe look great so I’m sure it’s something I did…

It still tastes great, but isn’t as light and fluffy as I would expect.

homemade funfetti cake3

Ben loves it and really that’s all that matters. He was so cute when we sang to him, just smiling the whole time and blew out his candles like a pro. :)

Enjoy!

Homemade Funfetti Cake (recipe adapted from Simply Scratch)

YIELD: 24 cupcakes or a 2 layer cake

INGREDIENTS:

4 whole Egg Whites

1 cup Whole Milk

2 teaspoons Real Vanilla Extract

3 cups Cake Flour, sifted

1 1/2 cups Sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 1/2 sticks of Unsalted Butter, softened

1/2 cup Sprinkles, plus more for garnish (or 1/4 cup if you fold them into the frosting)

1 recipe of Cream Cheese Frosting


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare cupcake pan with liners or two 9” cake pans.
Combine the wet ingredients; egg whites, whole milk, and vanilla. Whisk together and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Blend with the butter and half of the wet ingredients. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl before adding the rest of the milk and egg mixture. Mix again until combined.
Fold in sprinkles and fill cupcake liners halfway or divide between the two cake pans. Bake for about 17-20 minutes
Frost with frosting (recipe below) and top with sprinkles. Or you can do as I did and fold the sprinkles directly into the frosting – up to you. Refrigerate any uneaten cupcakes/cake.
 
Cream Cheese Frosting (also from Simply Scratch)

INGREDIENTS:

1 package (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Butter, softened

1 teaspoon of Real Vanilla Extract

1 package (16 oz.) powdered sugar (about 4 cups), sifted

DIRECTIONS:
On medium speed, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.
Add the sugar gradually until blended after each addition.
Always keep cream cheese frosting refrigerated.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Homemade Strawberry Cake

homemade strawberry birthday cake2

My son recently turned 4! I still can’t believe it. He’s so smart, energetic, and stubborn (gets that from me Smile). When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he was very specific – pink cake with pink frosting and crushed oreos on top. ok…I can do that, I thought.

homemade strawberry birthday cake4

So I ended up finding this delicious looking recipe for a strawberry cake and it turned out wonderful! The cake wasn’t as pink as I thought it would be, but no big deal.

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I ended up making it a layer cake for fun and the recipe makes TONS of frosting. But I only had one 9 inch cake pan, so I ended up improvising. I made the one cake, then when it was cool, I cut it in half horizontally. It worked just fine, just wasn’t the most perfect cake.

homemade strawberry birthday cake8

Homemade Strawberry Cake
  • 1 (10 ounce) bag frozen strawberries
  • For the Cupcakes:
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 4 egg whites, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
  • ¼ cup strawberry reduction (from frozen strawberries)
  • 1 Tb white vinegar
  • For the Frosting:
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 12 ounces cream cheese, cut into 12 pieces and softened
  • remaining strawberry solids (from frozen strawberries)
  • pinch salt
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Microwave strawberries until they are soft and have released their juice in a microwave safe bowl. About 5 minutes.
  3. Using a fine-mesh strainer, firmly press fruit dry over a small saucepan. You should have at least 3/4 cup of liquid. Place strawberry solids in refrigerator.
  4. Over medium-high heat, bring the juice to boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid becomes syrupy. Liquid should be reduced to 1/4 cup ( takes about 6 to 8 minutes). Then whisk in the milk and vinegar until combined. Set aside.
  5. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Then add the egg whites one by one, mixing well after each one. Mix in vanilla.
  6. In a separate medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to evenly combine. Begin to add to the butter/egg mixture alternately with the milk mixture (beginning and ending with the flour), beating well after each addition.
  7. Divide batter amongst two 9-inch cake pans and bake 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
  8. For the Frosting: Using a mixer, mix butter and 3 cups confectioners’ sugar for about 30 seconds on low until combined.
  9. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for about 2 more minutes until fluffy. One at a time, add the cream cheese and beat until well mixed.
  10. Add a pinch of salt and the strawberry solids and mix until combined. If you need/want to thicken the frosting, add additional 1 cup confectioners’ sugar to thicker. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 days.
Notes
Original recipe, from Laura’s Sweet Spot was for cupcakes; Fill cups ⅔ full and bake 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
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