I LOVE yellow cake coupled with bittersweet sour cream frosting. The combination makes for one tasty dessert treat.
I tried a new frosting recipe for the latest cake bake. They say “everything’s better with butter”, this frosting is the exception to the rule. For one, there’s no softening or waiting for ingredients to reach room temperature, there’s no weird texture issues with the butter, and incorporating warm chocolate with the other frosting ingredients was no problem. The mixture stayed very fluffy and smooth, all the way from mixing and chilling to the actual frosting of the layers. One other word to the wise, using corn syrup also means that you can easily sweeten the frosting to your liking, without changing the consistency.
Now for the cake layers, Mr. Bittman knows how to cook everything. (can you imagine what that would be like???) Well, since I do not know how to cook everything, I look to him for wise words of cooking advice and his broad recipe knowledge. His recipe for golden layer cake looks slammin (and not just because it includes almond extract), but because it's pretty much just sugar, flour, eggs and butter. I own all of those things. Every baker should be able to knock this one out, no problem.
GOLDEN LAYER CAKE
(courtesy of How to Cook Everything)
1 and 1/4 sticks butter, softened
2 cups cake or all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs or 8 yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract OR 1 tablespoon grated or minced orange zest
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
For cakes, preheat oven to 350. Grease two 9-inch cakes pans.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth, then gradually add the sugar. Beat until light, 3 or 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs or the yolks (I used eggs) one at a time, then the vanilla or orange zest, and the almond extract.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the egg mixture a bit at a time, stirring in milk as needed. Stir until just smooth.
Fill the cupcake papers, each with about 2 large spoonfuls of batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack. Frost and serve without the paper.
CHOCOLATE SOUR CREAM FROSTING
This recipe is adapted from The Dessert Bible
Makes 5 cups of frosting, or enough to frost and fill a three layer 8 or 9-inch cake
15 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
1/4 to 1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Place the chocolate in the top of a double-boiler. Stir until the chocolate is melted. You can also melt it in the microwave, just check every 30 seconds to prevent burning. Remove from heat and let chocolate cool until tepid.
Whisk together the sour cream (room temperature!), 1/4 cup of the corn syrup and vanilla extract until combined. Add the tepid chocolate slowly and stir quickly until the mixture is uniform. Taste for sweetness, and add 1 tablespoon at a time, until it’s sweetened to your liking.
Let cool in the refrigerator until the frosting is a spreadable consistency. This should not take more than 30 minutes. Should the frosting become too thick or stiff, just leave it out until it softens again.
