I'm not a baker. 

I've never claimed to be great at baking but I absolutely love it.  I love the whole process from beginning to end.  I love that measurements need to be exact.  I love creaming butter and sugar together and creating a light, fluffy batter.  And above all, I love the smell a cake makes when it's cooking in my oven.

So when a cake comes out looking exactly how it should, even better than I expected, and tastes just as good as it looks - well, I'm one very happy girl.  Very happy!

Good Friday was my sister-in-law's birthday, and to go with glasses of bubbles I made the Cake of the Year, aptly named-

The Perfect Party Cake

I spotted this cake originally at Honey and Jam (she makes cakes look so beautiful!), however the recipe is originally from the cookbook My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 1/4 cups of flour | 1 tbsp baking powder | 1/2 tsp salt | 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk | 4 large egg whites | 1 1/2 cups caster sugar | 2 tsp grated lemon zest | 112g butter (equivalent to 1 stick of butter), at room temperature | 1/2 tsp pure lemon extract (I just used lemon juice) 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and butter two round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Put aside.
3. Whisk egg whites till a fluffy (not stiff) then whisk in the milk.  Put aside.
4. In a separate bowl, rub together the lemon zest and sugar until the sugar is moist and fragrant.  Add the butter and beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until light in colour.  Beat in the extract (juice), then flour mixture and milk-egg mixture alternatively, still beating on medium speed until the batter is homogeneous.
5. Divide between the two pans and smooth the tops with a spatula.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cakes are well risen and springy to the touch.  Cool for about 5 minutes in the tins before removing.
6. While still warm, poke each layer all over with a fork, and pour over lemon glaze (recipe follows).  When cool, frost cake and garnish with candied lemon slices.

Lemon Glaze | 1/4 cup caster sugar | 3 tbsp lemon juice 

1. Combine sugar and juice and stir with a fork.

Hannah used a Black Tea frosting on her cake, however as this cake would be eaten by children also, I went for a more mainstream frosting in the form of - Cream cheese and white chocolate frosting

450g cream cheese, at room temperature | 80g unsalted butter, at room temperature | 1 tsp vanilla extract | 220g white chocolate (do not use a baking chocolate), melted and cooled to lukewarm temperature

1. Whisk together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the vanilla, beat well, then add the melted chocolate and beat well.

Happy birthday Ms J.  I hope you've been enjoying the leftovers!

x