Glazed Meyer Lemon Almond Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

This month The Cake Slice Bakers voted and the winning recipe to try was once again from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman. The original recipe was for a Lemon Poppy Seed cake with Almond Cream Cheese Frosting. As you can tell from my photos, I deviated from there quite a bit, mainly just because I have absolutely no where to take a full size cake at the moment.

So, for my version of the cake I fiddled around and came up with a 1/3 recipe that I could bake in a loaf pan. I ended up making a few other changes as well and will share my very modified recipe soon - in the meantime, if you want it, just let me know in the comments.

Mainly, the changes consisted of using whole eggs instead of egg whites in the cake and adding almond extract as well as using a Meyer lemon for the zest. To top it off I made a simple glaze from powdered sugar, vanilla, Meyer lemon juice and a little heavy cream.

The cake was tender and had a nice lemon flavor to it along with a hint of almond. I also topped the cake with some sliced almonds for a little crunch, but I thought it was just as pretty without it.

To see the original cake and recipe you can visit the other Cake Slice Bakers!

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

(Adapted liberally from original recipe found below)

1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
zest and juice of 1 small lemon (I used a Meyer lemon for the glaze and the cake, thus the richer yellow/orange color to the glaze)
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract

Butter an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pan, line the pan with a piece of parchment like a sling up both long sides and the bottom of the pan, butter the parchment and dust the pan with flour, tap out the excess and set the pan aside.

Preheat over to 350° F.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Rub the lemon zest together with the sugar in a small bowl, set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon-sugar and beat another 2 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs and almond extract and beat 1-2 minutes more, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the wet and dry ingredients, alternately, to the butter-sugar mixture, starting first with 1/2 of the dry ingredients, then the buttermilk, then the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just well combined with no dry spots. Pour and scrape the batter (will be very thick) into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until risen and lightly golden. Allow to cool in the pan 10 minutes, then use the parchment sling to remove the loaf from the pan and allow to cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack. Prepare the glaze while the cake is cooling.

For the glaze:

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

juice from 1 small lemon, reserved from making the cake

1/2 teaspoon vanilla, optional

milk or cream, as needed

Whisk all three ingredients together well to combine into a smooth, slightly pourable, thick glaze. Depending on the amount of lemon juice you get (I had about 1/4 cup) you may need to add more confectioners' sugar to get the thicker consistency, or a little milk or cream to thin the glaze down. The consistency is really just your preference and you could even just serve it like a sauce on the side in a small pitcher with individual slices.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Almond Cream Cheese Frosting (original recipe for 3-layer 8-inch cake)

(Recipe from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

3 cups cake flour

2 cups sugar

4½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

3 tbsp poppy seeds

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter

1 large lemon, zest and juice

1¼ cups buttermilk*

5 egg whites

1/3 cup water

Poppy seeds or flaked almonds to decorate

Almond Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter

5 cups confectioners sugar

1 tbsp almond extract

* If you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own by stirring 3 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice into each cup of milk and leaving for 10 minutes.

Method

To make the cake, heat the oven to 350F. Grease three 8 inch cake pans and line the bases with parchment paper. Combine the flour, 1¾ cups sugar, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix gently to combine.

Add the butter, lemon zest and 1 cup of buttermilk to the flour. Beat on low until completely mixed. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes until lighter in colour.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg whites with the remaining ¼ cup buttermilk, whisk to blend thoroughly. Add the egg white mixture to the batter in 2-3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating only enough to incorporate the mix. Divide the batter between the three pans.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the centre, and a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out.

While the cake layers are cooling, make a lemon syrup. In a small pan combine the remaining ¼ cup sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Generously brush the cakes with the lemon syrup while they are still warm. Then allow the cakes to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the almond extract and then continue to beat well for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

To complete the cake, place one layer, top side down, on a cake plate and spread about a fifth of the frosting over the cake to cover evenly. Repeat with the second layer and place the third layer on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Garnish with your choice of flaked almonds or poppy seeds.

Makes 1 x 8inch triple layer cake. Serves 12-16

The Cake Slice: Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

I love chocolate, that is no secret. I also love bananas. So, that said, you would think that I would looooove this cake. In fact, I did like the cake itself, but surprisingly, to me anyway, the cake with this frosting was just waaaaay too sweet. Knowing my penchant for all things sweet, that may come as a shock. It certainly did to me. I thought the cake itself was very nice, but the frosting was tooth achingly sweet for me. Go figure.

That said, the cake and frosting were both a snap to make and I was glad to be able to participate in this month's round of The Cake Slice Bakers. I'm still playing a lot of catch up around here and hope to have many more posts up soon. I counted the other day and have at least 15 items just waiting to post, pictures and all, so hopefully I'll get on the ball soon.

Don't miss the rest of the cakes and how the other bakers thought it all turned out - visit the blogroll.

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

Banana Cake

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, softened

1½ cups sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk*

1½ cups mashed ripe banana

Chocolate Frosting

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half

4 cups sifted confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

* If you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own by stirring 1½ teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice into ½ cup of milk and leaving for 10 minutes.

To make the cake, heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to combine well.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and then the vanilla. Beat well for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally until you have a smooth batter.

Using a large spoon, stir in half the flour just until it disappears into the batter. Stir in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour the same way. Quickly and gently fold in the mashed banana and then divide the batter between the 2 cake pans.

Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the centre, and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks. Then turn out onto the racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the butter, cocoa and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring often for about 5 minutes, until the cocoa dissolves into a dark shiny essence. Remove from the heat and stir in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at low speed until you have a thick smooth frosting.

To complete the cake, place one layer, top side down, on a cake plate and spread about 1 cup of frosting evenly over the top. Cover with the second layer placed top side up. Spread the rest of the frosting evenly first over the sides and then covering the top of the cake.

The Cake Slice: Mississippi Mud Cake

Last week, just before I went into labor, I decided I should try to make something easy with my boys and let them have some fun in the kitchen. I've mostly been to tired to try much lately and Aidan has been asking me, so when I read through this month's Cake Slice Bakers recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott for Mississippi Mud Cake I thought it sounded perfect.

Other than the brief stovetop step this recipe was perfect for a six year old and his two year old bossy sous chef to put together. Add to that the fact that the cake, once baked is gooey, chocolatey and covered with warm and melty marshmallows and it was about the most fun we could have possibly had.

It was actually later that day that I did go into labor, so I'm glad that the boys and I had some time together before all the craziness started. I was discharged from the hospital yesterday, and while we still aren't sure when Kayla will get to come home, we are glad that she is here and doing as well as she is. She has some difficulties, and I promise to share more on that soon, but she is in wonderful hands with our amazing nurses here at the hospital and being well cared for. I'm still staying at the hospital in a room where they let mom's stay over to be close to their baby, but I'm trying to split my time between here and home, so please bear with me as I work through our latest escapades.

Mississippi Mud Cake

Makes one 13 x 9 inch sheet cake

Mississippi Mud Cake

(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

For the Cake

1 cup (2sticks) butter, cut into big chunks

½ cup cocoa powder

4 eggs, beaten well

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

1½ cups all purpose flour

¼ tsp salt

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

For the Mississippi Mud Frosting

One 16 ounce box (3¼ cups) confectioners sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

½ cup milk or evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups mini marshmallows or 3 cups large marshmallows quartered

Method – Cake

Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan. In a medium saucepan combine the butter and cocoa powder and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the butter is melted and the mixture is well blended, about 3 – 4 minutes. Stir in the beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, salt and pecans and beat until the batter is well combined and the flour has disappeared.

Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cake springs back when touched gently in the centre and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting so it is ready to pour over the hot cake.

Method – Mud Frosting

In a medium bowl combine the confectioners sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and beat everything together well. Set aside until the cake is done.

To Serve

Remove the cake from the oven, scatter the marshmallows over the top and then return the cake to the hot oven for about 3 minutes to soften the marshmallows.

Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack. Pour the frosting all over the marshmallow dotted cake and eat straight away or allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

Cake Slice Bakers: Mile-High Devil's Food with Brown Sugar Buttercream

I am back with The Cake Slice Bakers this month, after missing last month's challenge much to my dismay.  I wasn't missing this month since this recipe is one of the main reasons I bought Alisa Huntsman's (which, by the way, if you click on Alisa's name, you will go to her blog!) book, Sky High:  Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes.

Devil's Food cake may very well be my favorite - no surprise there since it is chocolate after all. What I truly love about this recipe though (and for that matter most of the recipes in the book) is that it is so unique to any other Devil's Food I've seen or made.

Most of the Devil's Food recipes I've seen use a combination of unsweetened cocoa and melted chocolate, which is truly rich and delicious, but always a bit overwhelming on my ingredients supplies and budgets.  It is awesome to have a beautiful cake, but when it wants to use my cocoa supply, and a good amount of my chocolate supply, it is a bit of a struggle to justify making it.

Happy Day After Devil's Food Cake Day!  Yes, it's true, May 19 was National Devil's Food Cake Day here in the U.S.!

So, in my opinion, the unique thing about this recipe is that it uses only unsweetened cocoa powder - a full cup of it.  Another thing that was different than a lot of recipes I've seen is that there was no buttermilk, or any milk for that matter.  Also, no granulated sugar.  The other really unique thing I found with this recipe is that it uses no white sugar, but it did put a large dent in my brown sugar supply!  In fact, the cake uses 3 cups of packed brown sugar!  Since I seriously loooooove brown sugar, this was fine by me!

The other portion of the dent in my brown sugar supply came from the buttercream, which got its slightly tawny, creamy white color from making a sugar syrup using 1 1/4 cups of light brown sugar and only a 1/4 cup of water.  It was a really lovely syrup too!  

To further gild the lily, I used some unsalted imported Irish butter in the buttercream that I had on hand for another project that I was planning (I can get more when I actually get around to it I guess) since all my other unsalted butter was still languishing in the freezer - poor planning on my part!

So, overall, the cake itself, funny enough, was rich, moist, chocolatey and absolutely delicious - when I ate a piece out the refrigerator it actually tasted just like a chocolate ice cream sandwich to me!  I know I will make this recipe many more times.

For my layer cake I used a 14-inch square pan and filled it with about just under 3/4 of the batter.  The remainder of the batter made 12 cupcakes for me, which are now in the freezer for some rainy day when I need a chocolate fix!  I cut the cooled large square into four smaller squares that I then stacked to make my layers.  It made one very tall and irresistible layer cake!

Make sure to check out all the other Devil's Food Cakes at The Cake Slice Bakers Blogroll!

Mile-High Devil’s Food Cake

From: Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

By Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne

Makes an 8-inch triple layer cake:

• 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa NOT DUTCHED PROCESSED

• 1 and ¼ cups of hot water

• 3 cups of light brown sugar; packed

• 2 and 2/3 cups cake flour*

• 1 and ½ teaspoons baking soda

• ¾ teaspoon of salt

• 9 ounces of unsalted butter at room temperature [2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons]

• 3 large eggs

• 1 and ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract

• ¾ cup of cold water

{*1 cup of cake flour is equal to ¾ cup of flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch}

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and grease the paper as well.

Place the cocoa in a medium bowl and add the hot water. Whisk until smooth and let it cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low blend to combine. Add the butter and the dissolved cocoa. Then raise the mixer to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and cold water until combined. Add this liquid to the batter in three additions scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Divide the batter among the three pans.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a cakes tester inserted into the almost comes out clean. There should be a few crumbs attached still. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes. Then invert and remove parchment paper and cool completely on a wire rack.

Bakers’ choice of: Brown Sugar 7-Minute Frosting or Brown Sugar Buttercream

Brown Sugar 7-Minute Frosting

• 6 egg whites

• 1 and ½ cups of brown sugar

• ¼ cup light corn syrup*

• 2 tablespoons of water

• ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar

{*corn syrup can be substituted with equal parts of treacle OR liquid glucose OR light colored honey}

Do not try to make this frosting on a rainy day or if you live in an extremely humid area. The humidity will make it impossible to work with the egg whites.

Place all the egg whites in a bowl and set them aside while you make the syrup.

In a small heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, and water. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Boil until the syrup reaches 238 degrees F (softball stage) on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from heat.

Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites in the bowl and beat just to combine. With the mixer on medium speed gradually add the syrup in a thin stream taking care not to hit the beaters. Beat until fairly stiff peaks form but the frosting is still spreadable. If the frosting is too stiff it will be hard to work with. Use immediately.

Brown Sugar Buttercream

• 5 egg whites

• 1 and ¼ cups of packed brown sugar

• ¼ cup of water

• 1 pound of unsalted butter (16 ounces) at room temperature

Place all the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer; set aside.

In a heavy medium saucepan combine the sugar and water. Cook over medium heat stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then bring to a boil without stirring and cook until the syrup reaches 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

Begin beating the egg whites on medium low speed. Slowly pour in the syrup making sure not to hit the beater. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat until the meringue has cooled to body temperature.

With the mixer on med-low add 1-2 tablespoons of butter at a time. When all the butter has been added increase the mixer’s speed to medium and beat until the mixture looks curdled or separated. Continue to beat until the icing comes together again looking like soft smooth whipped butter.

Assembling the cake:

Place one layer flat side down and cover it with 2/3 cup of the frosting. Top with second layer and repeat process. Top with third layer and frost the sides of the cake.

Bakers Notes:

A cake topped with the meringue frosting is the best eaten the day it’s made. It does not do well in the fridge.

If you choose the buttercream frosting you can keep it in the fridge for 3 days. Make sure to allow the cake to come to room temperature for 1 to 1 ½ hours before slicing. Otherwise the frosting will be hard and heavy.

Triple Lemon Chiffon Loaf Cake

The Cake Slice Bakers this month made a Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake.  This cake is easy to put together, goes together fairly quickly and is absolutely light, lemony and delicious.  In fact, if you like Lemonheads candy (which I LOVE) then you would be completely delighted with this cake.  I got that distinct level of tart and tangy with just enough sweet.  It was awesome.  The cake itself has a beautiful yellow tone to it and is light and slightly springy.  The lemon curd layered between the layers of cake is tangy and smooth and the whipped lemon cream frosting is super simple to make and is the perfect light compliment to the whole thing.  I just added some bright yellow sugar sprinkles on top for an extra burst of color and a little sugary crunch.

I really have nothing bad to say about this cake, well, except for the fact that I halved the recipe since I didn't have anywhere to take the cake this time.  I guess the only con is that there isn't more.  To make the lemon loaf cake like I did, I just made a half batch of everything and then baked the cake in one 9x13-inch pan.  

Seriously, if you like lemon, just make this cake!

Incidentally, if you do decide to make this cake, someone mentioned recently that March 29th is National Lemon Chiffon Day - so, there you go!

Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake

Source:  Sky High:  Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes

For the recipe, visit Gigi Cakes (one of our fearless leaders) whose cake with little ballerinas on top is about the cutest thing ever!!

Cake Slice Bakers: Sweet Potato Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Orange Cream Filling

Well, the cake slice bakers are back again this week with a Sweet Potato Cake. Yes. You heard me right. Sweet Potato. Did I mention it has orange cream cheese filling. Oh, and chocolate cream cheese frosting. Sounds interesting, huh? It also has a fair amount of spices in it.

This cake comes from the amazing and gorgeous cake book, Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes that the Cake Slice Bakers are baking a secret selection from each month for twelve months (ten more cakes to come your way). Our first cake was the Cappuccino Chiffon Cake as seen made by Steph, or in my case the Hot Cocoa Chiffon Cake. I loved that cake and so did everyone that tried it.

This month's cake was really very good and very seasonal for Autumn here in the Northern hemisphere. It tasted a lot like a spice cake and was very moist and tender with great flavor, as for the sweet potato, it was a little something extra that you just couldn't quite put your finger on.

Because there was no one to really share this cake with I went ahead and halved the recipe and just baked it in a jelly roll pan. I cut that into three sections and make a long rectangular cake. My favorite part of the whole recipe was actually the orange cream cheese filling but it was all very good and a lot of fun to make.

Make sure to check out all the other Cake Slice Bakers and their cake creations this month. Stay tuned for the next installment from our cake baking adventures, coming December 20th with the next cake - it is going to be good!!

Sweet Potato Cake
From Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

2 medium or 1 large sweet potato (12 ounces)
3 cups of cake flour**
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
5 eggs, separated
2 and 1/4 cups of sugar
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 and 1/4 cups of milk
(**The recipe calls for cake flour and if you only have all-purpose flour on hand, you can substitute 3/4 cup (105 grams) all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch.)
(*If fresh sweet potato is not available where you live you may use canned sweet potato, yams, and pumpkin puree)

Makes a 9-inch triple layer cake, serves 16-20 people

1. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes in 2-3 places, place on a small baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until the potatoes are very soft. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

2. Reduce the oven temperature to 350F degrees. Butter the bottoms and the sides of the pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper also.

3. When the sweet potatoes are cool peel off the skin and remove any dark spots. Cut the potatoes into chunks and puree in a food processors. Puree until smooth. Measure out one cup of potato puree and set aside.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Set aside.

5. In the bowl of electric mixer add the egg whites and attach whip attachment. Beat on medium speed until egg whites are frothy. raise the speed to high and gradually beat in 1/4 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites are moderately stiff.

6. In another large bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the sweet potato, butter, vanilla, and remaining sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl after each egg yolk is added. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and milk in alternately in 2-3 additions. making sure to begin and end with the dry ingredients.

7. With a large spatula, fold in one fourth of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Then fold in the remaining egg whites until no streaks remain. Making sure to not over mix or this will deflate the batter. Divide the batter among of the three pans.

8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out the cake layers onto a wire rack and cool completely at least 1 hour.

9. To assemble the cake, place one layer flat side up on to a cake stand. With a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip and filled with chocolate cream cheese icing, pipe border around the edge of the cake. Fill the center with the orange cream filling smoothing it to the edge of the border. Place the second layer on top and repeat the process.Place the third layer on top and use all the chocolate cream cheese frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Cream Frosting:
makes 3 cups
10 ounces cream cheese*** at room temperature
1 stick of butter at room temperature
16 ounces of powdered sugar; sifted
1 and 1/2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate melted and slightly cooled
(***1 cup of cream cheese maybe substituted with 1 cup pureed cottage cheese OR 1 cup plain yogurt, strained overnight in a cheesecloth OR equal amounts of neufatel cheese)

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar to cream cheese butter mixture. Making sure to scrape down the sides the sides of the bowl. Then beat until light fluffy 2-3 minutes.

2. Measure out 1 cup of frosting and set aside.

3. Add the melted chocolate to the remaining icing in the bowl and beat until well combined.

Orange Cream Filling:
1 cup of reserved cream cheese icing from above
2 tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 teaspoon of orange extract (I used vanilla)

1. Stir together all the ingredients until well mixed.

Baby's First Birthday Cake - Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Instant Fudge Frosting

This past Monday, October 13, marked Cole's first birthday. It was an infinitely better day than last year and we enjoyed a quiet celebration (well, as quiet as a one year old and five year old get anyway) at home. Cole enjoyed smashing his very own little cake (not the decorated one above mind you) and made a general mess of it. If you want to see a little video of pictures from his big day you can see them here. Since Cole was born two months early his body will 'technically' be one year at the end of November/beginning of December, but we chose to celebrate chronilogically anyway.

The interesting thing about dealing with Cole and his anemia over the past several weeks is the fact that the doctor's have basically (other than egg whites and nuts) set a kind of no-holds-barred standard for feeding him. In other words, feed him constantly and feed him anything he will take, and if possible, put butter on it. They call it 'power packing' his calorie intake. It seems to be helping because he is finally gaining a bit of weight again and his anemia is improving. As for his developement, my little overachiever seems to continue to hold his own. He had an Early Intervention appointment for his developmental check-up on the morning of his birthday and in most areas tested at his adjusted age or higher, even almost to his chronilogical age. In short, they 'rejected' us for eligibility for the program. I have never been so happy to be rejected in my entire life.

I have since felt relieved that he is doing so very well. I just wanted to mark the occassion of his birthday here and give you all a quick update to tell you, and show you, how good he is doing. He is still a bit skinny and he isn't quite on the charts yet for his weight, but he is pretty healthy and has quite the loving and funny personality.

I hope you enjoy the pictures here and get a chance to check out the little slideshow of pictures too. Thanks again to you all for your support over the first year of his rocky life!

Now, as for the cake I decided to make a vanilla cake for his birthday and since I just received my copy of Sky High: Irresistible Cakes for baking along with the other Cake Slice Bakers (watch on the 20th - TOMORROW for the unveiling of the Cake Slice Bakers first cake project) I decided to take a look at the recipes in there. When Gigi made this cake to announce the new group I thought it looked really good. Oh, is it ever. The crumb is tender, has a great vanilla flavor and is nice and buttery. It is light and delicious and was the perfect texture for Cole because the cake crumb really just melts in your mouth. For the cake he got to smash we actually just did a thin layer of frosting. Though babies 'shouldn't' have chocolate, they have encouraged us to give him anything that will help him gain some weight. This is certainly no diet frosting but he really didn't do much more than play in it. The frosting is light and delicious and not at all overpowering. In all, this cake is extremely moreish and we really loved it!

Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Instant Fudge Frosting
(From Sky High Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes By Alsia Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
For the cake:
4 whole large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup of buttermilk
3 cups of cake flour
2 cups of sugar
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 ounces of butter at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8-inch cake pans. Line with parchment paper and grease the paper.

Place the eggs and the yolks in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and 1/4 cup of buttermilk and whisk all the ingredients well. Set Aside.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a mixer; whisk to blend. Add the remaining buttermilk and butter to the dry ingredients and with the mixer on low speed, blend together. Raise the mixer to medium speed and beat until light fluffy; 2minutes.

Add the egg mixture in three additions, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Divide the batter among all the pans.

Bake the cake layers for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out the cakes onto a wire rack and remove the paper from the bottoms. Cool completely.

Fudge Frosting:
6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar
12 ounces of unsalted butter at room temperature
6 tablespoons of half and half
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to blend together. Then pulse until the frosting is smooth.