Vanilla | e2 bakes brooklyn

This blog hit fifty posts last week which, considering that I only started blogging in October, is pretty crazy. Looking through my Recipe Index, I have a ton of cookie recipes, three pies, a bunch of different breakfast items and savory things, but only one measly cake recipe. Granted, it’s a Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcake recipe that is really delicious, but how is it possibly the only one?!

See, I make a lot of cake. Like, a minimum of five every month for the various birthdays and celebrations that all my friends (and their friends) have. I’ve made everything from chocolate biscuit cake to chocolate peanut butter cake to the vegan carrot cupcakes I baked last night. But the one that everyone really loves? The one that people get excited about when I walk in the room with a white cardboard cake box? It’s this Vanilla Layer Cake.

This cake has been through many iterations over the last two years as I learned more about baking chemistry and made adjustments. All of them were delicious, but this is the best by far. It’s moist and buttery, a little bit dense (but not pound cake-dense), and has a prominent vanilla flavor.

The cake is made with room temperature butter and eggs so that it stays extra rich. Buttermilk keeps everything moist. The dry ingredients involve a combination of all-purpose flour and cornstarch to mimic cake flour’s lightness and tenderness. Light brown sugar is used in addition to granulated sugar for a little extra moisture and complexity of flavor. And there is plenty of pure vanilla extract so that this cake is undoubtably vanilla. The batter is simple to put together, and will be thick and beautiful (or at least, I think it is). It’s divided into two pans and baked until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
The frosting is made while the cake layers are cooling. It’s a simple vanilla buttercream, and will come together in just a few minutes. Beat room temperature butter and confectioner’s sugar together until combined. Add in vanilla and salt, followed by a few tablespoons of heavy cream. You may use whole milk or half-and-half in place of the heavy cream, but the frosting won’t be nearly as rich and creamy. You see, the cream whips within the buttercream and makes it so light and fluffy, it’s ridiculous. Don’t skip it! Fill and frost the layers to your preference, and sit back while your friends and family ooh and ahh!

This Vanilla Layer Cake is anything but plain vanilla! Between the buttery, rich cake, and the fluffy, gorgeous frosting (not to mention the vanilla flavor!), it’s a total showstopper!

Vanilla Layer Cake
makes 1 two-layer 9″ round cake*

To Grease the Pans:
2 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour*
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk*, room temperature

Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 pound confectioner’s sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3-5 tablespoons heavy cream
sprinkles or decorative sugar, if desired

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together greasing mixture ingredients. Use a pastry brush to paint mixture onto the entire insides of two 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.

Make the cake batter. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating completely after each addition. Beat in vanilla and buttermilk. Add dry ingredients in three installments, beating just until combined. Scrape down the bowl as necessary.

Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Tap each full pan on the counter five times to release any large air bubbles. Bake cakes 32-37 minutes, rotating top to bottom and back to front at the halfway point. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for fifteen minutes. Run a small thin knife around the edges of the pans and invert the cakes onto cooling racks to cool completely.

Make the frosting. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in confectioner’s sugar in three installments, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Beat in salt, followed by vanilla. Add in heavy cream until desired consistency is reached.

Transfer one layer of the cake to a cake stand or plate. Frost and layer cooled cakes. Top with sprinkles or decorative sugar immediately after frosting, if desired.

Layer cake will keep covered at room temperature for up to three days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes:

1. This recipe can also be made into 24 cupcakes. Skip the greasing, and instead line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Fill each muffin cup 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
2. Cake flour may be substituted for the all-purpose flour and cornstarch. Just use 3 1/3 cup cake flour in place of the all-purpose flour and cornstarch.
3. If you don’t have buttermilk, put one tablespoon of white vinegar in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup, then pour milk up to the 2 cup mark. Stir and let sit for five minutes, until curdled. Use as instructed in the recipe. Do not use skim or fat free milk.

My first blog post centered around my dad’s love of chocolate, particularly brownies. While my whole family loves it when he makes brownies, I neglected to mention one thing: my mom doesn’t like chocolate all that much. She can take it or leave it. She doesn’t hate it. She just doesn’t love it. My parents have been happily married for 32 years, raised three daughters and two miniature schnauzers, and this is probably the biggest thing they disagree on.

For years, my mom never mentioned this. I remember many birthdays where my little sister and I gave her boxes of Russell Stover Chocolate Covered Cherries, having zero idea that she didn’t love chocolate. A few years ago, she revealed the truth to me over a ritual ice cream lunch date: she’s a vanilla person. That’s not to say she’s boring. No, my mom is anything but boring. The woman is fearless. She’s the kind of person who isn’t afraid to travel around the country with sixty teenagers in tow. She’s the kind of person who, upon finding out that Justin Timberlake’s mom is her friend’s neighbor and JT himself is visiting, will scream “JUUUUUSTIIIIIN!” like a banshee in an effort to get his autograph for her diehard *NSYNC fan daughters. My mom works a full-time job, takes a two mile walk with the dog, makes dinner for my dad, and still takes the time to have an hour phone conversation with you about whether it’s appropriate to wear velveteen pants to a black tie event. She’s the kind of mom that your friends absolutely love, and the kind of mom that is friends with her adult children first and foremost. Bottom line: my mom straight-up rules. And today is her birthday, so let’s make her something vanilla.

I’ve been on a shortbread kick lately. As the weather is (sort of, not really) starting to turn cooler in New York, I have been drinking a lot of tea. Obviously that requires cookies. Really buttery, crunchy cookies. And, since we’re giving my mom a cookie shout-out, let’s make them vanilla-almond and slice-and-bake. I think she’d approve.

These vanilla-almond shortbread are a breeze to put together. We cream butter and sugar together before adding in vanilla bean paste and just a touch of almond extract. Then we mix in flour and salt, followed by sliced almonds. Next, we form the dough into two logs, wrap them in plastic wrap, and throw them in the fridge for a little bit. Then we just slice them and bake at 325F for 14-17 minutes. All that’s left to do is make a pot of tea and dunk away.

Vanilla-Almond Shortbread Cookies keep very well at room temperature for at least a week. This makes them perfect for your cookie jar, holiday gifting, or shipping a box to your mom since you can’t be there for her birthday this year.

Happy birthday, Mom. I love you more than chocolate.

Vanilla-Almond Shortbread Cookies
makes about five dozen

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste*
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract*
1/2 cup sliced almonds, optional

In a small bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add sugar and mix until it is completely combined with the butter. Add in the vanilla bean paste and almond extract, and combine. With the mixer running on low, add in flour mixture in two installments, mixing until it is just incorporated. Fold in sliced almonds. Dough will be crumbly, but should hold together when pinched.

Divide dough in half. Take one half and lay it on a piece of plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap and clean hands, form the dough into a log. Wrap tightly in the plastic wrap. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Refrigerate wrapped dough for at least 45 minutes, or up to three days.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

Unwrap one log of dough. Using a large, sharp chef’s knife, slice the dough in 1/4″ installments and lay them on the prepared pans at least one-inch apart. Bake for 14-17 minutes, until the tops no longer look doughy and the edges are starting to brown. Let cool on the pans for for 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

These keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for at least a week.

Notes:

If you do not have vanilla bean paste, or simply don’t want to use it, you may use the scraped seeds of one vanilla bean in addition to one teaspoon of vanilla extract. If you do not want to use vanilla bean at all, you may use two teaspoons of vanilla extract.
If you would like a more pronounced almond flavor, you may use 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract. Be careful though–almond extract is very potent.

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Tag Archives: Vanilla

Vanilla Layer Cake

Vanilla-Almond Shortbread Cookies