Fool Proof White Cake Challenge

Part of the reason we renovated our kitchen was to allow DH and I to actually share the kitchen.  He loves to cook on weekends, and I am in charge of that chore during the week.  Trouble is, I have a very small repertoire of meals I can cook.  So I promised (threatened) to expand my horizons and talents.

To support the cause my darling hubby bought "us" a beautiful Kitchenaid Stand Mixer around Mother's Day.  It remained in the box until the kitchen was finished and then it went into it's little garage until today :) 

Look at that bad girl!  She's so pretty! 

I pulled out all the ingredients needed for this fool proof recipe and got started.  Yes, that's sour cream you see there.  I'm thinking it's a bit weird, at this point too, but we shall see after the taste test.

So I measured carefully and added the dry ingredients.  That part was easy... except the flour made a mess and my laptop was too close to where I was working so I think a bit of flour might now call my keyboard home.  Sigh. 

Then the butter.  I have a full pound softened and ready to use.  The recipe calls for 2/3 cups butter.  I look at the package and there are markings for measurements but not 2/3 cup.   Hmmmm guess I'll have to put it in a measuring bowl then. 

The rest of the mixing goes pretty smoothly.  The finished batter, looks like cake batter from a box, smells like cake, so into the oven they go.  The pans looked a little full and I was worried they would overflow in the oven.  They didn't.  As they cooked, they started to smell like box cake. 

So far, this challenge was pretty easy!  If the taste is good I would do it again from scratch.  One, it costs less, two, it limits the additives in our diet (some of which I have a sensitivity to). 

The icing is home made too.  An old-fashioned butter cream frosting.  That was super easy, especially with my new best friend doing all the work. 

I will update this post after dinner with a finished product picture and taste results.  In the meantime, here's the recipe for you:

No Fail White Cake Mix

·    3 cups all-purpose flour

·    1 tbsp baking powder

·    ½ tsp baking soda

·    2 cups sugar

·    ¾ tsp salt

·    2/3 cup butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces

·    3 large eggs

·    ½ cup full fat sour cream

·    1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

·    1 cup 2% milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two round 9x2-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with a round of parchment paper.

Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add sugar and salt and mix on low speed until ingredients are well blended, about 2 minutes. Add softened butter and beat on slow speed until the mixture is a sandy, crumbly consistency and everything is well combined.

 

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla whisk until smooth. Add half of the milk and whisk to blend. Gradually pour this mixture into the flour mixture while mixing at low speed for 5-10 seconds. Pour in remaining milk and continue beating at medium speed until the dry ingredients are just incorporated and batter appears smooth. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix for another 5 seconds. Do not over mix.

 

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake 30-35 minutes.

Or spoon batter into paper lined muffin tray and bake 15-20 minutes.

Recipe Courtesy of Steven and Chris on CBC

Things I learned:

1. Using my laptop to store and use recipes is not wise.  Either I have to put my laptop further away, or I need to print my recipes for use.
2. Measure the butter while still hard and cut into cubes before softening.  
3. Use the convection feature on my oven for even baking.
4. Find the cake tester and have it ready before the timer goes off :)

*Edit after test taste:

Husband (who has had made-from-scratch cake before) says it's VERY good.  That's a good thing for me because he doesn't use the word "very" with "good" very often. He scored it an 8 out of 10 because he didn't like the plain-ness of the vanilla.

My first impression was that I did not like it at all.  The texture is strange, but then I've only ever had commercial made or box cakes.  As a plain vanilla cake it's a bit boring.  On second taste, it would be yummy if I had a nice Tim Horton's coffee to go along with it.  It would probably be better with chocolate icing, or maybe with some orange zest or served as on the tv show with lots of fresh fruit. 

The texture sort of reminds me of pound cake but not quite.  I think I might have been afraid of over mixing it, and didn't mix it enough.  So all in all, the flavour is good.  Hubby liked it and that's something.  I'll try it again, but next time I will change the icing, and mix the batter a little more, AND I will have coffee ready to have with it.

If you try it, let me know what you think and what you did different, if anything.