Cake Decorating 101

For the last year I have wanted to learn the art of decorating cakes... and I finally found an affordable and local cake decorating class that I am taking with a friend of mine in town. Not to be too modest, but I can make a tasty dessert, however, when it comes to the presentation and appearance, I need some work.

This class is going to do just the trick! We had a homework assignment last week to bake a cake and ice using the techniques we learned in class with our icing bags and try out one or two of the designs we learned last week. I baked a red velvet cake (my first time!) and was psyched at how well the icing and design turned out... Yes, it is fairly basic but to me it looks like something you would find in an actual bakery (at least a grocery store bakery...) Now tonight we are going to dye the icing and learn to make shapes... try to contain your excitement... I will try to post again with the results this week.

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Cream Icing aka the BEST cake EVER!

This cake was so divine... from the creamy frosting to the juicy sweet strawberries to the dense vanilla cake... Unfortunately I did not have the proper pans to bake the cake so I had to use a bundt cake pan which did not work very well with the torting (aka cutting the cake in half to add a layer of filling--which is also why I do not have a photo of the final product. Additionally it left me with about 1.5 extra cups of strawberry frosting... I am sure we can find a use for that!). So this weekend I will be making an investment in our baking future and purchasing two of the 9 inch round pans that the cake was supposed to be made with. Most importantly though, the cake was "licking your plate" good.

VANILLA CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY CREAM ICING

FROSTING
2 x 8 ounce packages of light cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup seedless strawberry jam (or with seeds if that is all you can find…)
¾ cup chilled heavy whipping cream

CAKE
3 cups cake flour (or if you do not have cake flour then for every cup of cake flour, substitute 7/8 cup regular flour and 2 T cornstarch... Additionally I used whole wheat flour to make it a bit healthier).
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
3 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature
7 large eggs
2 T vanilla extract
1 cup light sour cream
6 T plus 1/3 cup strawberry jam
2 ¼ pounds strawberries, hulled, sliced (about 6 cups) divided

Frosting
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl. Beat in sugar, then jam. Beat cream in a separate medium bowl until peaks form. Fold whipped cream into frosting. Cover; chill until firm enough to spread, about 2 hours.

Cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans with 2-inch high sides. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into a medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add in sour cream and beat for 30 seconds. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, beating to blend after each addition. Divide batter between prepared pans.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes. Run small sharp knife around pan sides then turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely.

Using large serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place one cake half, cut side up on cake plate. Spread 2 T strawberry jam over, then ¾ cup frosting. Top with ¾ cup sliced berries, arranging in a single layer. Repeat 2 more times with cake layer, jam, frosting, and berries. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread two cups frosting over top and sides of cake in thin layer to coat completely. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Stir remaining jam to loosen and spoon spoonfuls onto top and sides of cake, then use back of spoon to swirl jam decoratively. DO AHEAD—Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate. Cut cake into wedges and serve alongside remaining strawberries.

RECIPE FROM BON APPETIT MAGAZINE, MAY 2009.