I have a rare disease, it's called "cakeitis" and it hits randomly. The first symptom is a feeling of unease followed by lots of agitation and finally ends with a full blown cake attack! At these moments, I...must...have...cake...
It hit last night around 7:30 and I began scurrying around the kitchen gathering ingredients (a well stocked pantry is a must in these cases). My husband had just helped me clean up after dinner and looked at me and said "WHAT are you doing???" to which I replied "Cake attack". He nodded and cleared out. It's really not such a bad deal for him, after all.
I browsed my books a bit and settled on this Yellow Cake recipe from Cook's Illustrated. If you have an opportunity to purchase these cookbooks, you will not be disappointed. I have a collection of about 6 of them and they are my go-to cookbooks. NOTHING you make will ever turn out less than perfect. I speak the truth.
Rich and Tender Yellow Cake
Cook's Illustrated, The Best Recipes Cookbook
4 large eggs, room temp.
1/2 cup whole milk, room temp.
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cup sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and cut into 8 pieces each
Preheat 350 degrees, grease two 9 inch pans and cover bottoms with parchment.
Mix eggs, milk, and vanilla in small bowl. Measure out 1 cup and set aside.
In mixer bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low 30 sec. With mixer running, add butter one piece at a time. Mix until it begins to clump together and looks sandy and pebbly.
Add the 1 cup of milk/egg mixture on lowest speed and mix until incorporated, 10 sec.
Increase speed to med-hi and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 min. Then add remaining milk/egg mixture in a slow steady stream. Beat about 15 seconds longer.
Divide batter into pans and bake until golden brown 20-25 minutes.
Frost with your fave frosting and EAT!!! Make sure you follow through with a cake breakfast the next morning. This is medicinal, after all.
You know this trick, right? Place strips of parchment or foil under the edges of your cake before you frost to catch the mess. Then slip them out and you have a neat cake plate with no frosting smears. In the words of Martha, "it's a good thing"
Hey, Jennifer!
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, all the work I've done on my blog, I've done myself. I designed and created the background. I don't like the header, but I wasn't very inspired by the time I got to it. I am trying very hard to figure out html. I wanted larger columns, so I figured out how to do that. There are other things I've learned to do, but haven't had time to do yet, like favicons and personal signatures. I like tweeking the layout. I just find it to be a creative outlet for me. I don't think I've figured out exactly how I want it to look yet to reflect me, so I'm just playing around with different designs. I have a few friends who don't blog much that are letting me use their blogs to practice on. If I were not a teacher, I would love to do something with graphic design. So, rather than sleep lately, I play around with my blog! I think I have become addicted to blogging (writing and reading), at least my husband would say so!
Looks delish! I agree about Cook's Illustrated. I subscribe to their online access to recipes and, while I used to get ticked that they charge $30 a year just for access to their site, I now believe it's worth it. You're right, every recipe is a good one. My only compliant is that some of the recipes have extra steps to make it a "perfect" recipe that sometimes I'm not sure that the extra time is worth the extra "perfectness". Great looking cake. I'll be having lemon pound cake for breakfast myself!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I meant complaint, not compliant...need more coffee! Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteI ordered a toasted almond torte cake from Dudt's for the Superbowl....not exactly football cuisine, but I don't care! I've been craving one since Christmas!!...I can't believe I've gone this long!...the craving is so huge I can't satisfy it with just a cupcake from Mimi's!...and here my sister in law who is coming has been craving one too! she freaked when I told her what we were having for dessert..my mom is also coming from Florida and she suggested cookies, they are easier and I said NO!!!...I got a BIG one...enough for breakfast! :)
ReplyDeleteoh yeah, that's got to be a great recipe. thanks for sharing (my family thanks you, too). :)
ReplyDelete