Birthday Love

Last weekend was yet another weekend filled with traveling to Pennsylvania, but for fun reasons! My baby brother was graduating high school, and my sister was celebrating her 22nd birthday. In my family, birthdays always equal cake, but because the weekend was so jam packed with activities, my mom didn't have time to bake for my sister, so I took on the task. I wanted to use one of my newer cookbooks, so I chose a recipe from Organic and Chic, by Sarah Magid, though none of my ingredients ended up being organic. Anyway, my sister requested a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, so I used a "Blanca Cake" recipe with dark chocolate frosting and loads of rainbow sprinkles. The cake and frosting combination was delicious! The white cake was sweet and light with a hint of butter, and the sour cream in the chocolate frosting was the perfect offset for the sweet cake. I have since made this recipe again, but in cake form instead of cupcakes. It was a hit!




Be warned though, this cake takes a lot of egg whites!





Blanca Cake- adapted from Organic and Chic

2 cups organic APF
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 sticks (1 1/2 c) butter, softened
2 1/4 c sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 c whole milk
7 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside

In a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter, and 2 cups of sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl

In a small bowl, combine vanilla and milk and set aside.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk/vanilla mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

In a clean bowl, use a handmixer or a clean standing mixer to beat the egg whites of low speed until they become foamy. Slowly pour in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and gradually increase the mixer speed to medium high. Beat until egg whites are shiny, with stiff glossy peaks. Be careful not to overbeat.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of egg whites into cake batter. Then, in 2 additions, fold in the remaining whites just until the streaks are incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, smoothing the tops with an offset spatula. Bake until the cakes are golden brown, about 35 minutes.

Cool for 20 minutes before taking out of pan.