The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (308 page)

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

White layer cakes have been the classic birthday cake for more than 100 years. White cake is simply a basic butter cake made with egg whites instead of whole eggs (using the latter would make it a yellow cake). Theoretically, the whites are supposed to make the cake soft and fine-grained. Unfortunately, the white cakes that we have baked over the years, though good enough, always fell short of our high expectations, always coming out a little dry and chewy—one might say cottony—and we noticed that they were riddled with tunnels and small holes. What were we doing wrong? Every traditional recipe for white cake calls for stiffly beaten egg whites folded into the batter at the end. We began to suspect that it was the beaten egg whites that were forming the large air pockets and those unsightly holes in the baked cakes. We solved this problem by mixing the egg whites with the milk before beating them into the flour-and-butter mixture. The results were fantastic. The cake was not only fine-grained and free from holes but, to our surprise, it was also larger and lighter than the ones we’d prepared with beaten whites. And the method couldn’t be simpler, quicker, or more foolproof. To make this cake birthday-special, we iced it with an easy butter frosting and added a layer of raspberry jam and chopped toasted almonds.

SERVES 10 TO 12

There is enough frosting to pipe a border around the base and top of the cake. If you want to decorate the cake more elaborately, you should make 1¹⁄
₂
times the frosting recipe. If desired, finish the sides of the cake with 1 cup of sliced almonds.

CAKE

FROSTING AND FILLING

1. FOR THE CAKE:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, grease parchment, and flour pans.

2.
Whisk milk, egg whites, almond extract, and vanilla together in small bowl. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute.

3.
Add all but ¹⁄
₂
cup milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining ¹⁄
₂
cup milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds (batter may look slightly curdled). Give batter final stir by hand.

4.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth tops with rubber spatula. Bake cake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discard parchment, and let cool completely, about 2 hours, before frosting. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 1 day. Wrapped tightly in plastic, then aluminum foil, cakes can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost cakes at room temperature before unwrapping and frosting.)

5. FOR THE FROSTING AND FILLING:
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt on low speed until sugar is moistened. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until creamy and fluffy, about 1¹⁄
₂
minutes, stopping twice to scrape down bowl. (Avoid overbeating, or frosting will be too soft to pipe.)

6. TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
In small bowl, combine ¹⁄
₂
cup frosting with almonds. Line edges of cake platter with 4 strips of parchment paper to keep platter clean. Place 1 cake layer on prepared platter. Place almond frosting in center of cake layer and, using large spatula, spread in even layer right to edge of cake. Carefully spread jam on top. Place second cake layer on top, making sure layers are aligned. Spread about 1¹⁄
₂
cups plain frosting over top, spreading icing until slightly over edge. Gather more frosting on tip of spatula and gently spread icing onto side of cake. Smooth frosting by gently running edge of spatula around cake and leveling ridge that forms around top edge, or create billows by pressing back of spoon into frosting and twirling spoon as you lift away. Carefully pull out pieces of parchment from beneath cake before serving. (Assembled cake can be refrigerated for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Most versions of lemon layer cake are concoctions of heavy cake stacked with filling and frosting that taste more like butter than lemon. We wanted an old-fashioned cake in which tangy, creamy lemon filling divides layers of tender, delicate cake draped in sweet frosting—an ideal contrast of sweet and tart.

For the cake itself, we suspected that the light, fresh flavor of lemon would be best served by something ethereal. We found that a white butter cake was the perfect choice, as it is nicely flavored by butter yet light enough for the lemon flavor, with a fine crumb and tender texture. Lemon layer cake is often filled with lemon-scented buttercream, but this mutes the lemon flavor and makes the cake far too rich. We preferred the brightness of lemon curd. For our frosting, we started with seven-minute icing and made some adjustments, as the traditional version was a little too sweet, slightly thick, and required holding a hand-held mixer for longer than was comfortable. We cut back on the sugar and added a squeeze of lemon juice to solve the first two problems. Heating the mixture to at least 160 degrees and then transferring it to a stand mixer for whipping (rather than holding a hand mixer for seven minutes) gave us a frosting as billowy and shiny as the old-fashioned version.

See “FROSTING A LAYER CAKE” illustrations that follow recipe.

SERVES 10 TO 12

Be sure to use cake pans with at least 2-inch-tall sides. After filling the cake in step 6, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate while making the icing. For neater slices, dip a knife into hot water before cutting the cake.

FILLING

CAKE

1. FOR THE FILLING:
Sprinkle gelatin over 1 tablespoon lemon juice in small bowl; set aside. Heat remaining lemon juice, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot but not boiling. Whisk eggs and egg yolks in large bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly pour hot lemon-sugar mixture into eggs, then return mixture to saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with heatproof spatula, until mixture registers 170 degrees and is thick enough to leave trail when spatula is scraped along pan bottom, 4 to 6 minutes. Immediately remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture until dissolved. Stir in frozen butter until incorporated. Pour filling through fine-mesh strainer into bowl (you should have 3 cups). Place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling; refrigerate until firm enough to spread, at least 4 hours. (Filling can be made up to 1 day in advance and refrigerated; fold with rubber spatula to loosen before spreading onto cake.)

2. FOR THE CAKE:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, grease parchment, and flour pans. Whisk milk, egg whites, and vanilla together in 2-cup liquid measuring cup.

3.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute. Add all but ¹⁄
₂
cup milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining ¹⁄
₂
cup milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give batter final stir by hand.

4.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth tops with rubber spatula. Bake cake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discard parchment, and let cool completely, about 2 hours, before frosting. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped tightly in plastic and kept at room temperature for up to 1 day. Wrapped tightly in plastic, then aluminum foil, cakes can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost cakes at room temperature before unwrapping and frosting.)

5. TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
Place cooled cake layers on top of each other and make ¹⁄
₈
-inch-deep vertical cut into side of each cake layer. With long serrated knife, use sawing motion to cut cakes in half horizontally so that each cake forms 2 layers.

6.
Line edges of cake platter with 4 strips of parchment paper to keep platter clean. Place 1 cake layer on prepared platter. Spread 1 cup lemon filling evenly over top of cake, leaving ¹⁄
₂
-inch border around edge. Carefully place second cake layer on top of filling, aligning cuts so that layers are even. Spread 1 cup filling on top; repeat using remaining cake layers and filling. Smooth out any filling that has leaked from sides of cake.

7.
Using spatula, spread icing over top of cake, spreading icing until slightly over edge. Gather more frosting on tip of spatula and gently spread icing onto side of cake. Smooth icing by gently running edge of spatula around cake and leveling ridge that forms around top edge, or create billows by pressing back of spoon into icing and twirling spoon as you lift away. Carefully pull out pieces of parchment from beneath cake before serving. (Assembled cake can be refrigerated for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.)