Perfect Party Cake

I got home from Ann Arbor last night and naturally I am feeling separation anxiety from Ariel, Kate, and all of our other baking friends.  So the only way to remedy this sad situation is to bake!!!  There is a bakery in a neighborhood of Pittsburgh that makes my mom’s most favorite cake.  It is called the Rose in the Snow.  It is a white cake with a coconut frosting and a singular red rose in the middle.  Because I was away at the NCAA Rowing Championships during her birthday I decided to make her a belated birthday cake upon my arrival home.  We have a recipe book called Baking: From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  I decided to use her recipe for “The Perfect Party Cake” as my frame with a few minor adjustments.  This is a very simple cake with lemon flavoring and a lightly flavored lemon buttercream frosting which is coated in shredded coconut.  It is DELICIOUS!!!!!

Ingredients

                For the Cake

                                2 ¼ cups cake flour

                                1 TBS baking powder

                                ½ tsp salt

                                1 ¼ cups buttermilk

                                4 large egg whites

                                1 ½ cups sugar

                                2 tsp grated lemon zest

                                1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

                                ½ tsp pure lemon extract

                For the Buttercream

                                1 cup sugar

                                4 large egg whites

                                3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

                                ¼ cup fresh lemon juice

                                1 tsp pure vanilla extract

                                2 cups coconut (topping)

Directions

There are many steps to this cake so pay close attention!!

Preheat the oven to 350.  Butter 2 9-inch circular pans, line with parchment paper and butter again.  Place the 2 pans on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl and mix with hands until evenly coated and fragrant.  Add the butter and mix with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.  Beat in the lemon extract.  With the mixer on medium speed, beginning with the dry ingredients add the dry and wet ingredients, alternating.  Continuing mixing until smooth and well blended.

Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth off the top with a rubber spatula.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until springy and a knife comes out clean.  Place on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, remove cake from the pans, and remove paper liners.  Allow to fully cool on the cooling rack. 

Combine the sugar and egg whites in a heat proof mixer bowl.  Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk continuously for about 3 minutes or until it is a melted marshmallow like consistency.  Attach the whisk attachment to your mixer and beat the egg and sugar mixture on a medium speed until it is completely cooled, approximately 10 minutes.  Switch to the paddle attachment and add the sticks of butter one and a time.  Be sure it is completely blended between sticks.  Next add the lemon juice and then the vanilla.  Continue to blend until it is completely blended, about 10 minutes.

To assemble the cake use a serrated knife and slice the cakes horizontally into halves.  Place one slice cut-side up on a cake plate and frost.  Do the same with the next two slices.  With the last slice place it on top cut-side down.  Thoroughly frost the entire cake.  Use the shredded coconut to coat the cake, pressing the coconut into the frosting.

ENJOY!!!