Happy Birthday Leilah!
What a wonderful white cake this is. It has a beautiful crumb and is easy to slice. The original recipe called for 3 cake pans. I baked only two, chilled them and then cut them in half, hence the four layers. It was stable enough to cut and to move the layers apart, and spreading the frosting onto the cut sides was a breeze. I will use this cake for my fresh strawberry layer cake; I am not a fan of heavy shortcakes. This cake would be lovely made into an upside down cake as well from half of the recipe. Virtually any fruit glaze or fruit flavoured frosting or fruit decoration is suitable to finish this cake. As I adopted the last chocolate cake I made as my standard, this shall be my white cake henceforth. I will look no further. Adapted from White Christmas Buttercake from Recipe.com.
WHITE BUTTER CAKE
3 cups sifted cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup whole milk
8 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 batch of Unforgettable White Chocolate Frosting
• Fully line 2 spring form, round baking pans with parchment paper and spray them with cooking spray. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter, 1 cup sugar and the vanilla until fluffy.
• Add the flour mixture alternately with the cream and the milk, beating on medium speed after each addition until well combined.
• Clean the beaters.
• In another large bowl, beat the egg whites on medium to high speed until soft peaks form (tips curl).
• Gradually add 1 cup sugar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form [tips stand straight].
• Gently fold the egg whites, about 1/4 at a time, into the creamed mixture. [If necessary, transfer mixture into a larger bowl]
• Divide mixture into the prepared pans. Bake in a 350 F oven for about 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the centers comes out clean.
• Cool layers in pans on wire racks.
• Place the pans in the fridge and chill thoroughly.
• Remove from fridge, unhook spring mechanism and peel off the parchment papers.
• Place the cakes on wax paper or parchment and slice them in half horizontally using a serrated knife.
• Line a cake plate with strips of parchment paper.
• Place a bottom layer on the plate and spread with Unforgettable White Chocolate Frosting.
• Repeat with the remaining layers, placing the other cake bottom on the top.
• Frost the top and the side with a thin layer of frosting and chill for 15 minutes.
• Keep adding the frosting and chilling the cake until only a half a cup of frosting remains.
• Pull the parchment strips from under the cake.
• Pull the parchment strips from under the cake.
• Use the remaining frosting to patch the bottom of the cake where the parchment pulled away the frosting.
• Chill the finished cake.
• Remove cake from the fridge an hour before serving.
• Decorate with fruit or serve as is.
