Mother’s Day

I have had a “baking bug” for the past couple weeks. I haven’t really baked a cake since I was in high school, so this was my first attempt. I guess this “bug” has come back since I am getting ready to take Wilton Cake decorating classes. Anyway, for my Mom, Grandma and Sister I decided to bake a butter sponge cake with fresh raspberry puree and custard in celebration of Mother’s Day. I think next time I will bake a yellow cake and use raspberry jam.

Sponge Cake:
(I doubled the recipe for a 4-layered cake)

• Softened unsalted butter for the pans
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

MAKE THE CAKE

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 8-or-9-inch cake pans and cover pan bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Off heat, add the vanilla; cover and keep warm.

3. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer or whisk) and reserving the yolks in another mixing bowl. Beat the whites on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites to soft, moist peaks. If using a standing mixer transfer the beaten egg whites to a large bowl and add the egg yolks to the standing mixer bowl (don’t clean the bowl).

4. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes. Add the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.

5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg whites and mix on low speed for 10 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl. Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes.

6. Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched, about 16 to 18 minutes for 9-inch cake pans and 20 to 22 minutes for 8-inch cake pans.

7. Cool completely on racks. Run a thin knife around the inside of the cake pans and then invert them onto the racks (or onto cardboard rounds or tart pan bottoms) to release the cakes from the pans. Remove the parchment paper.

Raspberry Puree:

• 1 pint raspberries
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 ounces water
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

1. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, combine the raspberries, water, sugar, cream of tartar, and lemon juice. Stir the sauce to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook the sauce until it comes to a slight boil.
2. Then remove the saucepan from the heat and add the contents to a blender.
3. Blend the sauce until smooth. Pass the sauce through a strainer or cheesecloth to remove any seeds.

Creamy Custard Filling:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 c. Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. In 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, stir all ingredients except vanilla extract.
2. Over medium-low heat, cook until mixture thickens and boils, about 20 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Cool in refrigerator 30 minutes.

Buttercream Frosting:

(I doubled this recipe)

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 stick shortening
• 4 c. powdered sugar
• 1 t. vanilla extract

1. Beat butter and shortening. Add one cup of powdered sugar at a time. Once all the sugar is combined add in vanilla.