Delicious Cake + Respberry Meringue Buttercream

Last year, Ryan gave me two cookbooks for Christmas: one devoted to cake, and one devoted to bacon. He knows me pretty well.  Now, baking is still a strange and terrifying world to me.  I have to battle my tendency to be extremely impatient. It stresses me out to think that the slightest deviation from the recipe could ruin the final result. Furthermore, the concept of “stiff peaks” is bewildering to me.

After receiving the CakeLove book, I thought to myself, “okay, now you HAVE to give baking a real chance”.  Unfortunately, my first attempt at making meringue buttercream frosting was miserable!  The butter wasn’t well-enough incorporated, and the meringue component wasn’t stiff enough to give the frosting any structure. Added to the fact that I had never used a whole pound of butter in anything before, it became a traumatic experience. It took me a while before I cared to try again.  Finally, I gave it another try this past Friday, with much better results.

Ta-da! Unfortunately we were pressed for time (see the small kitten trying to bury his face in the frosting), so I didn’t get any better pictures of the cake.

Chocolate Butter Cake (from the CakeLove book) – yields 2 9-in. diameter round cakes

Dry ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups + 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Liquid ingredients

• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 tbsp brandy (I subbed this with dark rum)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Creaming ingredients

• 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp.
• 1 3/4 cup extra-fine granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs

** full-fat, unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder with 22% to 24% cocoa butter is recommended in the book

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour into a big mixing bowl. Measure out the other dry ingredients and add to the bowl. Whisk them together.

Combine the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside.

Measure the butter and sugar into separate bowls and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together (note that the butter must be room temp). Use an electric mixer at low speed. After it looks well incorporated, start adding the eggs one at a time, keeping the mixer at the same speed.  Remember to scrape the sides down to mix everything evenly.

Alternate between adding the dry and liquid mixtures, starting and ending with the dry mixture. Keep the mixer going, and don’t wait for the added ingredients to get fully incorporated before adding more.

Stop and scrape the sides down, making sure that you get any possible pockets of unmixed batter.  Turn the mixer back on medium speed and mix for another 15 to 20 seconds.

Prepare the pans – for 9-in. round pans, line the bottom with parchment paper (I cut it roughly into circles and folded the edges under so it fit exactly along the bottom).  You don’t need to spray the sides of the pan.

Pour the batter into the pan, using a rubber spatula to smooth it out evenly in the pan. Fill the pan about 3/4 deep.

Bake for about 28 minutes.

When the cakes are done, let cool to room temperature and then remove from the pans by loosening the edges with a spatula or knife and then inverting onto a flat surface.  You can wrap the cakes in plastic wrap andore in the fridge up to 5 days before frosting.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

• 5 egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups extra-fine granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter
• candy thermometer

Separate the egg whites into a bowl.

Measure 1 cup of sugar and the water into a heavy-bottomed, 1 qt saucepan. Gently stir to combine before you put it on the heat.

Measure the remaining 1/4 cup sugar into a small bowl and set aside.

Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and set aside.

Put the thermometer in the saucepan. Place the saucepan on the stove and heat on medium-high heat. Partially cover the saucepan with a lid to capture the evaporating water – this helps prevent sugar crystals from forming. Heat until the mixture reaches 245 degrees F. This will give you enough time to continue with the steps below.

As this is going, whip the egg whites with a whisk attachment on high speed. Whip until stiff peaks form – that is when you have a meringue.

Keep the mixer going while pouring the 1/4 cup of sugar into the meringue.

Set aside the meringue and check the sugar. If it is not yet at 245 degrees, turn up the heat to get it there. Once it reaches 245, promptly remove it from the heat and slowly pour into the meringue. ** Note: It is VERY important to make sure the syrup is at 245 degrees. Baking is hard that way

Continue mixing the meringue at high speed for a minute or so. Reduce the speed to medium for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until the meringue is mostly cooled. Start adding the butter 1 tbsp at a time. This is the time to add any flavorings – I added about 1/2 cup of raspberry puree.  Below are some more flavoring ideas.

Continue to mix at the highest speed possible until the buttercream looks very uniform and smooth. It will have to pass through a weird, curdled-looking stage first.  The one mistake I made in my first attempt was my choice of electric mixer – mine simply wasn’t strong enough at its highest speed to incorporate the butter appropriately.

Flavor Variations

Vanilla: 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate: 1/2 cup melted bittersweet chocolate

Rum: 2-4 tbsp dark rum

Amaretto: 2-4 tbsp amaretto

Lemon: 2 tbsp limoncello

Orange: 1 tsp orange oil

Lime: 1 tsp lime oil