Celebrating with Cake and a CONTEST!

Happy April 28th!  This is a super special day to me because today is my baby girl's first birthday!!  Yes, I can't believe that an entire year has passed us by already.  It has gone by with incredible speed and looking back, yes, there have been some bad days, some tired days, and a lot of messy days but I wouldn't trade one day for anything in the world.  The amazing thing when you have children is that you almost get to re-experience the wonders of life; you discover what ice cream tastes like for the first time, feel grass in between your toes again, and believe in magic.  I love my kids so much and they bring so much joy into my life. 

Kate, I know you can't read this, but mommy loves you so very much.  You make my life so full of happiness and excitement.  I look forward to the many many years to come, being at your side, cheering you on.  I love you - happy first birthday, my sweet little girl!

We did already have Kate's big birthday party last weekend, however, we can't let her real birthday go by without doing a little something special.  So today we are having a small BBQ in her honor! 

We didn't actually have a birthday cake for her last weekend either (just a cupcake) so today I made her a very special cake from my all time favorite baking recipe book  - Baking From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

                                          

White Celebration Cake!

Cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Buttercream:

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Finishing:
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions:

1.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.

2.For the Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3.Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

4.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.

5.Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, 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.

6.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.

7.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.

8.Bake for 30 to 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, unmold 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 2 months.)

9.For the Buttercream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan 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.

10.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.

11.Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 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, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

12.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. 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 the third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream left over). 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.

**STORING: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to 2 days.

And there you have it, AMAZINGLY delicious cake that you can use for any important celebration!  I know the girls are going to love this cake and I hope to make it more often for our special occasions so that when they are older, they can look back at this recipe and want to recreate it themselves (maybe when they are celebrating their little one's first birthday! :)

LOL - do you think she liked it?!

NOW - don't go just yet!!  I have one more thing to cover!  I noticed this morning that I have hit a small milestone on my little blog.  I am happy to have 200 followers now!! 

In honour of this I want to have my very first give-away!!  When thinking about what I wanted to pass forward as a token of my appreciation I knew instantly what would go perfectly in co-ordination with today's post!

SO, I am giving away a brand new copy of the fabulous Ms. Dorie Greenspan's cookbook,

"Paris Sweets"!!!

 Here is a link to the amazon listing for the cookbook, if you want to check out reviews or details on it.  Today is April 28th, so I'll leave the contest open until 9am (mountain time) on May 6th - so about one week. 

To enter the contest, please just leave a comment in the comment section below.  If you pin this posting to one of your pinterest boards, you'll get two entries (PLEASE say in the comment section if you've pinned it AND a way that I can get a hold of you, should you win).

If you want to learn more about the amazing Ms. Dorie Greenspan and her recipe books, here is a link to her website.  Below are a few pics I found from other blogs who have made recipes out of this book (just to your senses tingling!!)

source: http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/peace-offering/

source:http://bossacafez.blogspot.ca/2010/11/eclairs-au-cafe-coffee-eclairs.html

source:http://onceuponacookie.blogspot.ca/2008/05/little-fairy-opera-cakes.html