Dorie's Perfect Party Cake...sorta

I just got my copy of "Baking: from my home to yours", by Dorie Greenspan and really wanted to try something out. My first choice was a chocolate cake, but, of course, I was all out of cocoa powder. So I turned the page and happened upon the Perfect Party Cake. I'd seen this cake on other blogs, and thought it looked nice, so that was my choice.
Now, in my house, there are only 3 people...Because of that, whole layer cakes don't get full eaten, and we toss a lot of cake away D: D: D:

Then, a stroke of inspiration...


Mini-cakes!

I baked the cakes in normal 9 inch rounds, split the layers, and used a round cutter to cut out circles. With the way I did this recipe, the top was...almost crunchy, but the rest of the cake was perfect, if not a little crumby. So next time I'll shave off the top before cutting the layers in half.


Anyhoo, on to the recipe (and pictures. Not as many this time, because I was a little sleepy and didn't feel like photographing each step)






E: More pictures!




Cake:
2 1/4 cups of cake flour (I substituted an equal amount of all-purpose flour, because I was too lazy to figure out the proper conversion. For every 1 cup of cake flour, substitute 3/4 cup of ap flour + 2 tbsp of cornstarch)
1 tbsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1 1/4 cups of whole milk or buttermilk (I had neither, so I used half 2% milk and half sour cream 'cause that was what I had. Yay improvisation! :P )
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 stick (1/4 pound / 8 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp of lemon extract

2/3 cup of raspberry/cherry/strawberry/whatever jam/jelly/preserves/whatever. :P

Buttercream:
Recipe here
(just add vanilla)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 9-inch or 8-inch round pans. (or square. whatever, it really doesn't matter. It all depends on how you want to present it :) )

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and the salt.
Whisk the milk (or milk-mixture, hehe) and egg whites together.
Cream the sugar, butter, and lemon extract together, until very light. Add the flour and milk mixture, alternatively, until incorporated. Beat for a minute or two to ensure that it's totally incorporated. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then cool on the rack while you make the buttercream.

Here's the buttercream recipe link again. :)

Once everything's all ready, cut the layers horizontally and spread a layer of jam, then buttercream between each layer. I hate trying to spread buttercream over jam, so I tried to do buttercream first, then jam on my second cake. DON'T DO IT. The layers slide around and just make a big old mess. So jam first, them buttercream. Just put a lot of the cream on and it'll be easier to spread than just a little. Anyhoo, do that for your layers, then do a crumb coat (thin layer of buttercream, then pop it in the fridge until it's set). Do you final layer of buttercream and decorate as desired.


Yay, cake!