Tuesday, June 30, 2009

TWD: Perfect Party Cake



I LOVED the look of this cake. It really is beautiful and will wow everytime. The coconut adds to the beauty. I ended up halving the recipe, because a whole double layered cake was a little much for our family. So we ended up with this darling little square cake that was the perfect size for our family.

The Cake: I haven't had a lot of luck with with layered cakes. I am sure it is due to lack of practice. I was happy when this one turned out well. Dorie describes the cake as a tight crumb cake and that is just what it was. I expected it to be heavy, but it was very refreshing and light. It's color was a beautiful white. The lemon zest in the cake was not necesarilly recognizable in the finished product but lightened up the taste significantly.



The filling: I made a raspberry sauce from frozen raspberries for the filling instead of raspberry jam as I am not a huge fan of jam in my treats.

The frosting: This frosting was light and elegant. It finished off the cake charmingly. I was really curious about how the frosting would turn out and taste. It was a hot meringue buttercream frosting. This was no ordinary buttercream. Basically you take egg whites and sugar and warm over simmering water while whisking. It turns into a shiny white mixture that looks like thin marshmellow cream. You then whisk the egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer to make a meringue. I was unsure whether the frosting would take on the pristine white whipped frosting that was described. However as I whipped the meringue and added the butter and watched and watched my frosting transform into a soft beautiful flowing buttercream.

I assembled the cake and cooled it in the refridgerator. Glenn and I both sampled it that night. The cake was delicious as was the filling. The icing, while beautiful, might have been heavy on the butter flavor. I may use a whipped cream next time. But it is hard to pass up the beautiful look of that frosting. However...my other taste testers (my lovely neighbors) loved the cake and felt the whole thing was refreshing and delicious...frosting and all.



This was a fun make and I would surely make it again for a special event. If you are interested in the recipe you can visit mix, mix...stir, stir.

4 comments:

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

What a perfect little cake! I'd say you nailed this one perfectly. Your cake looks so light and beautiful. I'm so glad you and your family liked it. Thanks for baking with me this week.

Whitney said...

Looks fabulous! I think this is the cake I made for Gabey's birthday last year. The meringue buttercream was what made it for me. Glad to hear you had success with a layer cake. They can be tricky at times!

Isabelle said...

Wonderful cake! Wonderful cake! I loved this cake, will definitely make it again :)

Ms. PH said...

I thought the buttercream was heavy on the butter too. I might try less butter next time.