The Vanilla Cake Of My Dreams April 28, 2010

I baked a cake. Typically this would not be an extraordinary event, but last Thursday night it absolutely was.

The back story is that I was vegan for about six years; I learned to cook and bake without meat or dairy. In this time I learned that while there are a million delicious vegan meals, there are definitely not a million delicious vegan desserts.

I don’t know if I’ve ever baked something and heard it was delicious (from a non-vegan) without a qualifier like, “Wow! I can’t believe that banana bread is vegan, it actually tastes really good!” But last Thursday, for the first time (thanksgiving family tradition cheesecake aside), I baked a cake and people loved it – actually!

I baked this cake for one of my favourite coworkers on his last day. He’s an amazing man with a sweet tooth and a cheeky attitude. It just felt right that my first attempt at a cake, complete with layers and icing fonts, should be in his honor.  It definitely looks pretty amateur, but the flavour and texture were brilliant!

After the feast in the cafeteria the president of the company actually called me direct to tell me how much he liked it.  Obviously, he didn’t see the cake in full. He thought it was so good, in fact, that he even asked if it was an old family recipe. It was super exciting that he called, though I might have preferred if it had been to say he likes how I do my job. But anyway…

Please don’t tell anyone that this started out on MarthaStewart.com, I have a reputation to keep up, ya know? I made some modifications but since I’m still fairly new to non-vegan baking I’m not sure what difference they made. You can get the original cake and frosting recipes from Queen Martha, or you can go with this cake – named after the most momentous phone call.

The Presidential Vanilla
You need: electric mixer, 2 8″ inch cake pans, 2 or 3 big mixing bowls

CAKE
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/2 cups cake & pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour the two cake pans. Tap out excess flour.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in one of the mixing bowls.  In the other, use your electric mixer to beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs to the butter mix, beat on low until combined, then add the vanilla.
Alternately beat in the flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. You should find the batter quick thick, and not at all runny.
Divide batter between pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 32 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Dip a toothpick or knife into the centre, when it comes out clean your cake is cooked through.  Let the cakes cool in their pans for at least 10 minutes then run a knife around edges of the pans and drop the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  FYI – you may need to get a spatula involved to get the cakes out of the pans.

ICING
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
4 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
~1/2 cup 18% cream to taste and consistency

Beat butter until it’s light and fluffy.  Add icing sugar by the cup until well mixed and smooth. Add vanilla.  While beating the icing add the cream by steps to desired creaminess.

Finally, place one of the cakes on a plate or cake stand. Use a butter knife or a spatula to spread icing over the top.  Put the remaining cake on top and frost the top and sides.   For the writing, I just beat a few drops of food colouring into the leftover icing, put it into a sandwich bag, cut off a small corner and squeezed it out that way.