Cake Number 2

This week for class we actually had to make cupcakes, but we only needed 2 so I figured I would make a small cake for Keith's work and also the cupcakes I needed for class. I decided to up my baking skills this week and steer away from the regular white cake and incorporate one of Keith and I's favorite things... WHITE CHOCOLATE! So thanks to a little bit of Paula Deen help, here is Cake number 2!

White Chocolate Cake
From Paula Deen's Holiday Baking (2007)
Ingredients:
· 1 cup butter, softened
· 2 cups sugar
· 5 egg whites
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 3 cups cake flour
· 3 teaspoons baking powder
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1 cup whole buttermilk
· 6 (1 ounce) white chocolate baking squares, melted and cooled
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350°F; grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans.
-In a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy.
-Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
-In a small bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder, and salt; sift twice. Add flour mixture, alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in melted chocolate.
-Pour batter evenly into prepared pans; bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and allow to cool completely on wire racks. Ice to your liking!

I decided to mix some strawberries into the icing for my filling and it turned out pretty good. I used Wilton's Buttercream icing for the outside of my cake and I flavored it with their Clear Vanilla Extract. Just a note... this recipe makes A LOT of cake. It is actually for a 3 layer 9 inch cake so if you do not want to make a cake that large, you are going to have left over batter.

Reviews: We both loved it! Very moist with just the right amount of white chocolate.

Here is a picture of my finished product. Of course I had to use some of my cake decorating techniques to finish it off.

I promise that icing is actually purple and not the strange color it is appearing thanks to the camera! That is also supposed to be a fleur de lis, but it appears my cookie cutter was a little messed up. I am sure Keith will be made fun of for his purple fleur de lis cake (a little to LSU/Louisiana for the guys in the office). I could have done a better job on the icing but I figure the guys are just going to destroy it anyway.

Unfortunately after all the baking and icing and decorating, it was pizza night around here. There was no cooking after that afternoon and I was definitely not in the mood to wash anymore dishes! I will have to make sure to make a healthy meal tonight!