perfect party cake, green tea style

This month's Daring Baker's challenge was to make the perfect party cake. A white cake with butter cream frosting to flavor and decorate as you like. I chose to flavor my butter cream with green tea, hence the off white, ever so light green hue to my icing. I love to use green tea as a flavor in my baking and I've had much success with it. It gives such a subtle clean flavor, making it perfect for spring and summer desserts.

This is one of the simplest cake recipes I have ever tried. I love this recipe. It makes the perfect small crumbed cake. Soft and fluffy, yet dense at the same time. It would be an ideal cake base for birthday cakes, ice cream cakes, small tea cakes, tres leches.... you get the idea. My husband called the texture fuzzy like felt, almost like eating velvet. Definitely a keeper.

The butter cream recipe is also very simple. There is no need to worry about curdling when mixing this one together. If you follow the recipe exactly, the butter will beat into the ooey gooey marshmallow type egg white meringue mixture so easily you will have a wonderful pure white butter cream in no time. Just make sure you beat it for the required length of time (this is in case it curdles, if beaten long enough it will reconstitute itself) This is where I made my substitution to the butter cream, by adding in a 1/4 cup cooled brewed matcha green tea instead of a 1/4 cup lemon juice. I used about a heaping tsp of matcha powder to 1/4 c boiling water. My other substitution was that I used coconut extract in the cake instead of lemon extract.

Thanks to our hostess Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts for this month's recipe courtesy of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours.

Recipe
Perfect Party Cake
Dorie Greenspan, Baking from My Home to Yours

For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I used buttermilk)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract ( I substitute coconut exctract)

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons) - ( I substituted 1/4 c brewed matcha green tea)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
(I didn't use any preserves, just straight up frosting and coconut)

Getting Ready
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice (in my case the brewed green tea), waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake

Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves. ( if using them)
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Easter cheese

Making Easter cheese has been a tradition in my family for the past century. I learned how to make it from my mom, who learned how to make it from our great aunt who learned it from her mom and so on. It's Slovak in origin and usually eaten with a traditional Easter meal of ham, kolbasi, pascha (sweet bread), butter, beets w/horseradish & hard boiled eggs.

The weird thing about it is that it is not really cheese at all, but more like a extremely firm custard. It's basically a curdled ball of milk and eggs, firmed up and chilled, then sliced as you would a piece of cheese. It is very mild in flavor, slightly sweet and goes well with any type of condiment. (I'm thinking I can't wait to have it for breakfast on slice of toast with some jam)

It's not the most attractive looking thing, (it looks like a small head of cauliflower) but it is a tradition and it is extremely easy to make. My mom and I made our Easter cheese today and here is the recipe...

Easter Cheese

1 qt milk
1 dozen eggs
1 tsp salt
3 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Put milk on medium heat and simmer.

Beat eggs, salt, sugar and vanilla together. Add this mixture slowly to the milk, then stir till curdles form. Remove from heat.

With slotted spoon, spoon into bag or cheese cloth and squeeze out liquid with your hands or use a slotted spoon. Tie bag tight and let hang for several hours.

Remove from bag, refrigerate and when cool wrap in foil.

Slice and serve.