White Cake with Strawberry-Lime Frosting

I had the urge to bake a cake the other day despite the fact I don't normally care for cake. I was going to go with Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake, but then decided I wasn't in the mood for chocolate. (I know, I know, what on earth got into me!?) I found a few different recipes but ultimately settled on Classic White Cake that Baking Blonde posted about a few months ago. I distinctively remember this post because it was a change up from the chocolate/peanut butter/cookie goodness I find so often on her blog. I was confident the cake would be delicious because everything I've tried on her blog has been wonderful.

I wanted a layer cake, but only have one round baking pan. (Isn't that odd?) So, I improvised a bit.... I baked the cake in a 9x13 glass pan that I had COATED with butter. When I pulled the pan out, the cake had pulled itself away from the edges a bit. I also took a Spatula and ran it around the edge of the cake. After it cooled, I flipped the cake upside down and gently shook the pan so the cake kind of worked its way out onto a cutting board. I let it cool completely and then I cut the cake in half so I had two squares.

Then, I started on the frosting. The other night we went to Matt's cousin's house and had delicious strawberry short cake. Ever since then strawberry desserts have been on my mind. I had strawberries in the fridge and thought I'd make a strawberry butter cream frosting. I ran the idea by Matt and he told me he wanted cream cheese frosting. I did a little research on strawberry frosting/fillings and found one similarity in all the recipes. I had to put the strawberries in a saucepan, bring them to a boil and crush them. When I went to the fridge to pull out the strawberries, I saw lovely limes looking me in the eye and decided they needed to be used too. The result was an amazing Strawberry-Lime Cream Cheese Frosting. A frosting that I will make again and again.

I definitely need to practice my cake decorating skills, but over all I was happy with how my cake looked and very happy with how it tasted. The cake was moist and dense with a very subtle flavor and the frosting almost tastes like a Strawberry Daiquiri. The strawberries are nice and sweet, but then the sweetness is cut by the lime flavor - it's very refreshing. I have some left over frosting that I'm going to use on sugar cookies.

When I asked Matt if he liked it, he told me he did and said this, "You know honey, you're baking skills and my home remodeling skills are pretty similar. Every once in a while something turns out bad, but mostly the results are good things. This cake is a great thing". Men and their compliments. :) He keeps getting himself massive pieces so there isn't enough for him to take to work tomorrow... sneaky, sneaky.

White Cake with Strawberry-Lime Frosting
Cake Source: Baking Blonde
Frosting: Me

Classic White Cake

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 large egg whites

3/4 cup milk

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Bring all ingredients to room temperature. Butter two 9-inch diameter by 1 1/2-inch deep layer pans or 1 (13 by 9 by 2-inch) pan and line bottoms with parchment or waxed paper. (I was out of parchment paper so I just buttered the pan really well. There was no way I was using waxed paper, I had a bad experience with that once!)

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5-7 minutes, until light and fluffy. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.Combine egg whites, milk and vanilla extract.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter mixture then add half the milk mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture.Scrape bowl and beater often. Pour batter into prepared pan (s) and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake cake (s) about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean.

Strawberry-Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks butter, very soft

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, very soft

2 tsp vanilla

3-4 C powdered sugar

8oz strawberries, hulled and chopped

1/2 - 1 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

zest from 1 lime

Combine strawberries, brown sugar, and 2 tbsp lime juice in a small saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly and crushing strawberries with the back of the spoon. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Cream butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer. Add 1 C of powdered sugar, mix well. Add the second cup and mix well. Add the strawberry mixture, lime zest, and remaining lime juice and (oh wait, you know what's next..) mix well. Add the rest of the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. I ended up adding about 1 3/4 cup more powdered sugar. This made a ton, I had enough to frost the cake, use it as the filling, and still have some leftover.

For the lazy baker.....

Sometimes a girl just feels lazy.... that's how I felt all weekend. I was really in the mood to bake, but it just seemed like such a hassle. When I opened my cabinet with all my baking supplies and a box of chocolate cake mix fell out and hit me on the head I decided to compromise. I'd do a cake mix with homemade frosting.

Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
from nickie75 on allrecipes.com



INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 cups confectioners' sugar


DIRECTIONS
Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.


This frosting is sooo freakin good. It was so hard not to eat this right out of the bowl. It's just so light and fluffy. The taste reminds me of the peanut butter bars I made last month. I didn't let my cake cool all the way, so the frosting didn't spread very well, it ripped up part of the cake. :( I sprinkled some crushed Reese's Pieces on top of the cake to try and hide the messed up parts. :)

A Camp Fire Favorite

Last Saturday in my hungover state I was looking at food blogs. I came across the blog of Sew Darn Cute. She had some phenomenal looking S’mores cupcakes . Now, I HATE making cupcakes but just had to try these.

S'mores Cupcakes



For the cupcake part use your favorite chocolate cake mix or make one from scratch. For the frosting:

2 or 3 sticks butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
16 oz. tub of marshmallow cream

Cream the butter on high until it's light and fluffy. Add the confectioner's sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, and beat until fluffy each time. Beat in the vanilla until incorporated. Dump in the marshmallow cream and mix it up 'til it's all creamy. Transfer to pastry bag and pipe onto cupcakes. I don't have a pastry bag so I just cut the corner off a Ziploc bag - it worked great.

The tops are dusted with graham cracker crumbs, and each cupcake is topped with a square of Hershey's chocolate.

*For better pictures check out Sew Darn Cute's blog

Last night when I was finished mixing the frosting I tasted it and thought it was too buttery. I added a little more marshmallow and a little more powdered sugar and it was perfect.

I brought these over to my in-laws today and everyone seemed to like them. I had a cup cake last night and it was good but, I think they tasted better today. I could really taste the marshmallow. Yum!