Yellow Cakes

Happy long weekend everyone! We're pretty ecstatic to have a break. Work has been kind of crazy for me - but in a good way. New projects and things to learn. Howard and I also have a wedding to attend next week. So it'll be another short week as we've taken a day off to help out. Stay tuned to see how we churn out 200 cupcakes and a square cake to go on top of the cupcake tower!

I hope you're out enjoying the nice weather, it's pretty rare here in Toronto. In fact, this is the first time this year that I've busted out shorts and a T-shirt. No cardigan or shawl required! This is nice...

Oh and I learned something new last night. Hershey's Chipits pure white chocolate baking chips are not easy to melt over a double boiler. And whatever you do, don't listen to the instructions on the bag. It says to melt a cup of white chocolate chips in the microwave for two minutes. Two! I thought it was too high and tried one minute and now I can tell you from experience that it will burn, turn black, and bubble before it hits the one minute mark. I'm still having nightmares about it. Every time I use my microwave, I can still smell burnt white chocolate.

Thank you to those who heard my cries of help on twitter, your advices were all very helpful!

Despite that mishap, I tried a new cake recipe today and for the first time, baked it sheet style. I will admit, I need more practice making cakes. I find them so much harder to make compared to my beloved cupcakes.

Does anyone know why yellow cake is called yellow cake? It doesn't have a "yellow" flavour, so why isn't it just called a vanilla cake?

Yellow Cake

From Confetti Cakes for Kids

(Makes about three sheets of 1 x 9 x 13)

2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

2 sticks of unsalted butter

2 cups of granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 cup of milk

1. Preheat your oven to 177°C (350°F) and line the bottom of your pans with parchment paper.
2. Using a mixer, combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. On a low speed, add the vanilla, and the eggs, one at a time.
4. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
5. Alternate adding the flour/baking powder and milk in three batches.
6. Mix until well combined on medium speed.
7. Divide your batter evenly and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Remember to allow the cakes to cool before releasing them from the pans, about 20 to 30 minutes.
9. Flip the cakes over onto another pan or cake board. Peel away the parchment paper.
10. Yellow cake basically goes with any frosting flavour, so whip up your favourite one.

I trimmed out two cakes from the sheets, one 5 x 5 inches and one 5 x 4 inches. I love how I was able to get the thin layers of cake this way. It beats using a cake leveler!

The square cake was frosted with chocolate buttercream, iced with chocolate ganache, and topped with strawberries. My mom said in horror "chocolate and more chocolate?" Yes. =)

The rectangle cake was frosted with lime buttercream, something my parents can handle. This was piped on in logs and I didn't cover the sides. The citrus kick is making this weekend feel summery. Cheers!

Yikes, it just occurred to me... there are two cakes in front of me and six days before our friend's wedding. It's very likely that I'll be holding my breath when I put on my dress for their big day.

So how have you been doing? If you're a new visitor to my blog, welcome! I recently noticed that we now have over 900 likes on facebook and over 1,500 followers on twitter. That is pretty awesome! Thank you for staying in touch with us online, and please don't be shy, say hello or ask us a question if something on our blog isn't clear. =)