Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (307 page)
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
We wanted a yellow cake that was moist and tender, with a rich, buttery, eggy flavor and a fine, even crumb. Those cakes made using the classic creaming method—beating the butter and sugar together, then adding the flour and milk-egg mixture alternately to the bowl—gave us disappointing results. Instead of melting in your mouth, these cakes were crumbly, sugary, and a little hard. And they didn’t taste of butter and eggs, as all plain cakes ought to, but instead seemed merely sweet. We found that reverse creaming—combining all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl, then adding the butter, followed by the milk and eggs, in stages—gave us the tender texture and fine crumb we were after. (And swapping in cake flour for all--purpose flour further ensured a tender cake.) As for icing the cake, we turned to a rich buttercream, made with whipped whole eggs and butter, as well as an intensely flavored chocolate frosting made with heavy cream and bittersweet chocolate.
SERVES 10 TO 12
Adding the butter pieces to the mixing bowl one at a time prevents the dry ingredients from flying up and out of the bowl.
¹⁄ | cup whole milk, room temperature |
4 | large eggs, room temperature |
2 | teaspoons vanilla extract |
1³⁄ | cups (7 ounces) cake flour |
1¹⁄ | cups (10¹⁄ |
2 | teaspoons baking powder |
³⁄ | teaspoon salt |
16 | tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces and softened |
1 | recipe frosting (recipes follow) |
1.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, grease parchment, and flour pans. Whisk milk, eggs, and vanilla together in small bowl.
2.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute.
3.
Add all but ¹⁄
2
cup milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining ¹⁄
2
cup milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds (batter may look slightly curdled). Give batter final stir by hand.
4.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth tops with rubber spatula. Bake cake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out with few crumbs attached, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discard parchment, and let cool completely, about 2 hours, before frosting. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 1 day. Wrapped tightly in plastic, then aluminum foil, cakes can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost cakes at room temperature before unwrapping and frosting.)
5. TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
Line edges of cake platter with 4 strips of parchment paper to keep platter clean. Place 1 cake layer on prepared platter. Place about 1¹⁄
2
cups frosting in center of cake layer and, using large spatula, spread in even layer right to edge of cake. Place second cake layer on top, making sure layers are aligned, then frost top in same manner as first layer, this time spreading frosting until slightly over edge. Gather more frosting on tip of spatula and gently spread icing onto side of cake. Smooth frosting by gently running edge of spatula around cake and leveling ridge that forms around top edge, or create billows by pressing back of spoon into frosting and twirling spoon as you lift away. Carefully pull out pieces of parchment from beneath cake before serving. (Assembled cake can be refrigerated for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS
The whole eggs, whipped until airy, give this buttercream a light, satiny-smooth texture that melts on the tongue.
4 | large eggs, room temperature |
1 | cup (7 ounces) sugar |
2 | teaspoons vanilla extract |
Pinch salt | |
1 | pound unsalted butter (4 sticks), each stick cut into quarters and softened |
1.
Combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of stand mixer and set bowl over saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water. Whisking gently but constantly, heat mixture until thin and foamy and registers 160 degrees.
2.
Fit stand mixer with whisk and whip egg mixture on medium-high speed until light, airy, and cooled to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add butter, 1 piece at a time. (After adding half of butter, buttercream may look curdled; it will smooth with additional butter.) Once all butter is added, increase speed to high and whip until light, fluffy, and thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. (Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Let frosting sit at room temperature until softened, about 2 hours, then, using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip on medium speed until smooth, 2 to 5 minutes.)
Omit vanilla. Substitute 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder in 3 tablespoons warm water and beat dissolved coffee into buttercream after butter has been added.
MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS
1¹⁄ | cups heavy cream |
16 | ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine |
¹⁄ | cup corn syrup |
1 | teaspoon vanilla extract |
Place chocolate in heatproof bowl. Bring heavy cream to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat, then pour over chocolate. Add corn syrup and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Whisk mixture gently until smooth, then stir in vanilla. Refrigerate 1 to 1¹⁄
2
hours, stirring every 15 minutes, until mixture reaches spreadable consistency.
BAKING WITH FARM-FRESH EGGS
You may have heard that freshly laid eggs have different baking properties than older supermarket eggs. Because egg whites thin with age, some bakers theorize that the weakened proteins of eggs even a few weeks old can stretch more than those from just-laid eggs, leading to cakes that rise higher and have a softer, more tender texture than cakes made with the freshest eggs. To test this theory, we made our Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake with seven-week-old supermarket eggs (we determined their age by the date on the carton) and eggs from a Vermont farm laid a few days before. Any differences we found were slight. The cake made with store-bought eggs dissolved a little more quickly on the tongue, and the cake made with the farm-fresh eggs was a little more “substantial.” But only a few tasters actually detected these variations in texture. Did one cake rise higher than the other? No. The bottom line: Don’t pass up farm-fresh eggs in hopes of baking a better cake—age doesn’t make a difference. Besides, you’re probably just as likely to scramble or fry your eggs, dishes where freshness truly matters.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Box mixes are famous for engineering cakes with ultra-light texture. We set out to make an even fluffier cake—one without chemicals and additives. Chiffon cakes are especially weightless, springy, and moist. But unlike butter cakes, they are too light to stand up to a serious slathering of frosting. We decided to blend the two types of cake. We adapted a chiffon technique (using a large quantity of whipped egg whites to get a high volume and light texture) to combine the ingredients from our butter cake recipe. This gave us a light, porous cake that was sturdy enough to hold the frosting’s weight. We used a combination of fats (butter plus vegetable oil), which kept the butter flavor intact while improving the moistness of the cake. For extra tenderness, we increased the sugar and substituted buttermilk for milk. The buttermilk not only introduced a new flavor dimension, but also allowed us to replace some of the baking powder with a little baking soda to ensure an even rise. As for the frosting, a fluffy chocolate frosting is the perfect partner to this cake. A hefty amount of cocoa powder combined with melted chocolate gave the frosting a deep chocolate flavor. A combination of confectioners’ sugar and corn syrup made it smooth and glossy. To keep the frosting from separating and turning greasy, we moved it out of the stand mixer and into the food processor. The faster machine minimized any risk of overbeating, as it blended the ingredients quickly without melting the butter or incorporating too much air. The result was a thick, fluffy chocolate frosting that spread like a dream.
SERVES 10 TO 12
Bring all the ingredients to room temperature before beginning this recipe. Be sure to use cake pans with at least 2-inch-tall sides. This frosting may be made with milk, semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate; we prefer a frosting made with milk chocolate for this recipe. Cool the chocolate to between 85 and 100 degrees before adding it to the butter mixture.
CAKE
2¹⁄ | cups (10 ounces) cake flour |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons baking powder |
¹⁄ | teaspoon baking soda |
³⁄ | teaspoon salt |
1³⁄ | cups (12¹⁄ |
10 | tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled |
1 | cup buttermilk, room temperature |
3 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
2 | teaspoons vanilla extract |
3 | large eggs, separated, plus 3 large yolks, room temperature |
Pinch cream of tartar |
FROSTING
20 | tablespoons (2¹⁄ |
1 | cup (4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar |
³⁄ | cup (2¹⁄ |
Pinch salt | |
³⁄ | cup light corn syrup |
1 | teaspoon vanilla extract |
8 | ounces chocolate, melted and cooled |
1. FOR THE CAKE:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, grease parchment, and flour pans. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1¹⁄
2
cups sugar together in large bowl. In medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg yolks.
2.
Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and whip whites to soft billowy mounds, about 1 minute. Gradually add remaining ¹⁄
4
cup sugar and whip until glossy, stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl and set aside.
3.
Add flour mixture to now-empty bowl. With mixer on low speed, gradually pour in butter mixture and whip until almost incorporated (a few streaks of dry flour will remain), about 15 seconds. Scrape down bowl, then whip on medium-low speed until smooth and fully incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds.
4.
Using rubber spatula, stir one-third of whites into batter, then add remaining two-thirds whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smooth tops with rubber spatula, and gently tap pans on counter to release air bubbles.
5.
Bake cake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discard parchment, and let cool completely, about 2 hours, before frosting. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 1 day. Wrapped tightly in plastic, then aluminum foil, cakes can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost cakes at room temperature before unwrapping and frosting.)
6. FOR THE FROSTING:
Process butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed. Add corn syrup and vanilla and process until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Scrape down bowl, then add chocolate and process until smooth and creamy, 10 to 15 seconds. (Frosting can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 hours before frosting cake or refrigerated for up to 3 days. If refrigerated, let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before using.)
7. TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
Line edges of cake platter with 4 strips of parchment paper to keep platter clean. Place 1 cake layer on prepared platter. Place about 1¹⁄
2
cups frosting in center of cake layer and, using large spatula, spread in even layer right to edge of cake. Place second cake layer on top, making sure layers are aligned, then frost top in same manner as first layer, this time spreading frosting until slightly over edge. Gather more frosting on tip of spatula and gently spread icing onto side of cake. Smooth frosting by gently running edge of spatula around cake and leveling ridge that forms around top edge, or create billows by pressing back of spoon into frosting and twirling spoon as you lift away. Carefully pull out pieces of parchment from beneath cake before serving. (Assembled cake can be refrigerated for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
