Name: Cherry Layer Cake
Prep time: 120 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 155 min
Yield: 30
Ingredients: 4.75 cups all-purpose flour; 4.5 cups granulated sugar; 3.75 tsp baking powder; 1.5 tsp salt; 1.5 cups unsalted butter, room temp; 1.5 cups egg whites, room temp ((about 11 egg whites)); 2.25 cups buttermilk, room temp; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 0.25 cups vegetable oil; 3 cups unsalted butter, room temp ((6 sticks)); 12 cups powdered sugar; 0.33 cups heavy cream; 1 Tbsp vanilla extract; 0.5 cups cherry preserves ((to be added to only 1/5 of the frosting)); 3 drops red gel food coloring; 3 drops yellow gel food coloring; 1 Tbsp vodka; 1.5 lbs cherries

@Cococakeland’s Fox Cake

I have admired Lyndsay Sung’s (aka @cococakeland) adorable cake designs for years! She has such a distinctive style, and her cakes are so iconic.

Her designs have gone viral on so many different social avenues over the years (pinterest, tumblr, instagram, and of course her blog!), and I love seeing her creativity.

She just released her first cake book!! It’s filled with the cutest cakes, paired with her charming whit! It’s a great read, and shares how Coco Cake Land came to be.

To celebrate her book, I decided to make her orange fox cake! I used Lyndsay’s vanilla cream cake recipe in her book, paired with her simple buttercream recipe.

It was so fun trying some different recipes, and I loved the way the cake tasted. My review of her book?? 10/10!! If you want to purchase a copy, you can buy her book here: https://amzn.to/2vJUVCK

Her book has amazing step by step instructions and photos, which is so wonderful for all the visual learners out there (like me!!).

I opted to fill the cake with orange buttercream, to create a colorful cross section when I cut into the cake.

I began by stacking my 8 inch cake layers, and frosting an even layer of orange buttercream on top of each cake layer.

Next, I added thin crumb coat to the outside of the cake using the same orange frosting.

I smoothed it using a bench scrapper, then chilled the cake in the freezer for 5 minutes to help the frosting firm up.

I added a layer of (uncolored) white buttercream onto the top of the cake, then used the only grass tip I had on hand (Wilton 234) to pipe fur around the sides of the cake.

To ensure the frosting in my piping bag didn’t get too warm, I took breaks while doing this.

I also wrapped a few paper towels around my piping bag to minimize the transfer of heat from my hand to the frosting.

If the frosting gets too warm, it won’t hold it’s shape once it’s piped, and can even change color (it will deepen in shade).

if you run into this problem, you can always pop you frosting bag in the fridge for a couple minutes, or just let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Once I had covered the sides of my cake, I followed Lyndsay’s suggestion, and traced the outline of the fox’s face using my offset spatula.

This helps ensure the face is symmetrical, and creates a wonderful guide to pipe around as you pipe the fur onto the fox’s face.

Once I completed piping fur onto the top of the cake, I made my fondant details. I follow the instructions in Lysnday’s book for these too, which share how much fondant to use, and tips for creating her cute facial expressions.

To allow the fondant to dry, I let them sit for about 20 minutes on a piece of parchment paper.

I then placed them on top of the cake, and pressed the ears into the side of the cake.

And voila!! I was happy with how this fox cake turned out, and think Lyndsay would be proud of this little guy 🙂

This cake was almost too cute to cut into…ALMOST!

I was actually super eager to cut myself a slice and try a bite! I really enjoy Lyndsay’s buttercream recipe, which is slightly less sweet than my own!! Since it’s less sweet, I feel like I’m able to eat more of it, right??

The vanilla cream cake was also delicious, and was such an interesting recipe!

I highly recommend checking out Lyndsay’s book, Coco Cake Land!! You can also see the full tutorial below:

August 14, 2018August 14, 2018

ChelsweetsLeave a comment

Rainier Cherry Layer Cake

I grew up in Washington, and every summer the farmers markets were packed with beautiful cherries! Sadly, I was a super picky-eater as a kid, and I didn’t like cherries. Can you believe it?? I think the pits just weirded me out.

But once I hit my 20’s, I really grew fond of them! Now I have a hard time resisting them at the grocery store, and love to bake with them. If you also have a thing for cherries, I highly recommend checking out the epic Black Forest cake I made last year!!

I was in Whole Foods last week (my go-to spot for butter), and saw the most stunning Rainier cherries!! AND THEY WERE FROM WASHINGTON!!

Even though I know they’re shipped across the country, and definitely not as fresh as the cherries in Seattle, something about seeing fruit from home gets me every time. I couldn’t resist getting a bag…or three.

I don’t know what it is, but the vibrant hues of yellow and red had me feeling some kind of way. I knew I wanted to make a cake inspired by these cherries, and the streaks of color inspired me to paint some red and yellow brush strokes up the side of my cake.

This cake is made with my go-to layer cake recipe, and is filled with a cherry buttercream! To keep things simple, I used my favorite cherry preserve to flavor it.

The cherry buttercream is thinner than my classic american buttercream, so it’s important to pipe a dam of frosting around each cake layer, to ensure it stays in place, and doesn’t seep out into the out layer of frosting!

Carefully smooth the cherry buttercream to the edge of the vanilla buttercream ring, using a a small offset spatula. Once the layers were filled and stacked, crumb-coat each tier of the cake. This makes the frosting process so much easier, and ensures that no crumbs get into your final layer of frosting.

Place the cake in the freezer for 5-10 minutes, until the crumb coat is firm to the touch. Add a second, thicker layer of frosting, and smooth using a bench scrapper. If you want to see a full tutorial showing how to get smooth sides on a cake, click here.

Once the second layer of frosting on both tiers is smooth, add four supports into the bottom tier, using either bubble tea straws or wooden dowels. I prefer bubble tea straws, because they’re so much easier to cut! I bough a pack of them on amazon, and have been loving using them in my tiered cakes. However, wooden dowels make great supports too!

Chill both tiers of the cake in the fridge. Combine yellow gel food coloring with a bit of vodka in as mall container (I like to use egg containers). In a separate container, repeat this process with red gel food coloring. Use a large sterile paint brush to make brush strokes along the sides of each tier. Start with the yellow mixture, the go over these streaks with the red coloring.

Use two large offset spatulas to carefully lift your small tier on top of your large tier. Be sure the layers are thoroughly chilled before doing this, to make the process easier. Adjust the top tier as needed to ensure it’s centered.

Pipe a thin line of buttercream around the base of the top tier, and smooth using a small offset spatula to make a seamless transition between the two layers.

Pipe small dabs of frosting around the base of each tier as you add each cherry, to secure them. Add a few cherries to the top of the cake, to complete it!

The full tutorial and recipe can be found below:

Cherry Layer Cake

This cherry cake is the perfect summer cake! It's filled with a delicious cherry buttercream, and decorated with loads of fresh cherries.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Cherry Cake, Cherry layer cake

Prep Time 2 hours

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 35 minutes

Servings 30

Ingredients

Vanilla Layer Cake Recipe

4.75 cups all-purpose flour
4.5 cups granulated sugar
3.75 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 cups unsalted butter, room temp
1.5 cups egg whites, room temp (about 11 egg whites)
2.25 cups buttermilk, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
0.25 cups vegetable oil

American Buttercream Recipe

3 cups unsalted butter, room temp (6 sticks)
12 cups powdered sugar
0.33 cups heavy cream
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
0.5 cups cherry preserves (to be added to only 1/5 of the frosting)

Additional Ingredients

3 drops red gel food coloring
3 drops yellow gel food coloring
1 Tbsp vodka
1.5 lbs cherries

Instructions

Begin by making the vanilla cake layers.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 8-inch, and 3 six inch round pans with parchment rounds, and grease with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined.
Mix chunks of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
Pour in egg whites, and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk in two installments, on a low speed. Add in vanilla and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Mix in a couple squirts of yellow gel food coloring, to create a light yellow batter.
Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. I like to use a digital kitchen scale to weigh my pans, and ensure they all have the same amount of batter. For this cake, you want to make sure the layers in each tier have the same amount of batter. This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
Bake the 6 inch cake layers of 30-32 minutes, and the 8 inch layers for 35-37 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean). Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then run an offset spatula around perimeter of the pan to separate the cake from the pan. Place cake layers into the freezer for 45 minutes, to accelerate the cooling process.

While the layers bake and cool, make the frosting.

Beat the butter on a medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment, until smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Alternate with small splashes of cream.
Once fully mixed, add in the vanilla and salt, and beat on low until the ingredients are fully incorporated, and the desired consistency is reached.
If the frosting is too thick, add in additional cream (1 teaspoon at a time). If the frosting is too thin, add in more powdered sugar (quarter of a cup at a time).
Place 2 cups of frosting into a separate bowl, and mix in the cherry preserves.
Fill one large piping bag (18 inch) with some of the remaining white buttercream. This will be used to pipe a dam around the cherry frosting.

Once the layers are fully cooled, assemble the cake.

Begin by building the bottom, 8-inch tier. Secure one 8 inch cake layer to a 10 inch, grease proof cake board using a dab of buttercream.
Pipe a dam of vanilla buttercream around the edge of the 8 inch cake layer, and add a large scoop of cherry buttercream inside this. Smooth the cherry frosting to the edge of the vanilla buttercream.
Repeat with the next 8-inch cake layer, then top with the last 8 inch cake layer. Flip the layer upside down to make it easier to frost.
Cover in a thin crumb coat, then chill in the freezer for 5 minutes, until the frosting is firm to the touch.
Repeat this process with the 6-inch cake layers, building the tier on a 6 inch cake board.
Add a second, thicker layer of frosting to both tiers, and smooth using a bench scrapper.
Insert 4 supports into the bottom tier (I use thick bubble tea straws)
Chill layers in the fridge for 20 minutes.
In two separate, small containers, mix together the gel food coloring with a splash of vodka. If you don't want to use alcohol, you can also use lemon extract or water! The alcohol just helps the paint dry faster.
Once the frosting is thoroughly chilled, paint red and yellow streaks on the side of the cake. Start at the base, and gently pull up, to create fading brush strokes.
Carefully stack the tiers, then add cherries around the base of both tiers, and a few to the very top of the cake.

Recipe Notes

If you don't want to make a tiered cake, you can definitely half the recipe, and make three 7 or 8 inch cake layers.

If you want to, you can cook down fresh cherries with a bit of sugar, but it’s quite a bit of work to pit them all, and cook them down enough to be able to add them to the buttercream! If you try to add fresh cherries or cherry juice, the excess liquid from the fruit can cause the buttercream to break.

You could also add halved cherries between the layers, on top of the buttercream, but it can make it more difficult to slice though! I avoided doing this for that reason, and was really pleased with how my slices turned out 🙂

August 8, 2018August 9, 2018

ChelsweetsLeave a comment

Tim Tam Biscuit Ice Box-Inspired Layer Cake

Summer is here, and I’ve been having a blast making all kinds of summer-themed cakes! One of my favorite summer cakes is also one of the easiest to make, which is an ice box cake.

While I love a good layered cake, sometimes the simplicity of an ice box cake is just so appealing. I’m not sure whether it’s the ease at which it comes together, the short list of ingredients, or how refreshing it tastes on a hot summer day, but it is always such a treat!

To mix things up a bit, I’ve partnered with Tim Tam® to create a cake that is the best of both worlds! This cake is part layer cake, part ice box cake, and it has a secret ingredient…DARK MINT TIM TAM^® BISCUITS!

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of eating Tim Tam^® before, it is an irresistible biscuit that is chocolaty on the outside, crunchy creamy on the inside, and delicious all over! They’re originally from Australia, but are finally available in the U.S. now!! If you want to learn more about Tim Tam® biscuits, or where you can buy them, head over to TimTamUSA.com.

While some people enjoy simply snacking on these delicious biscuits, others like to SLAM them! I had no idea what a Tim Tam Slam^® was until I saw an Australian Instagrammer do one on Instagram a few weeks ago. People love to bite off each end of the biscuit, and dunk it into their coffee! What surprised me the most is that a #TimTamSlam can be done with a hot or cold beverage. I love this, because I pretty much exclusively drink iced coffee.

Since Dark Mint Tim Tam^® biscuits were going to be the star of this cake, I wanted to stay on theme, and incorporate a bit of coffee into this cake. I have an amazing chocolate cake recipe that uses an entire cup of coffee, and decided that it would be the perfect base to build this cake.

I stocked up on my favorite Tim Tam^® flavor, Dark Mint, and went to town adding them into this icebox inspired cake. The whipped cream filling, and fresh mint flavor make this cake such an amazing summer dessert! The full recipe can be found below.

Mocha Cake Layers:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup coffee

Whipped Cream Filling:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 Tsp mint extract

Mint Buttercream:

4 sticks or 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
8 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
2 tsp mint extract
2 small drops green gel food coloring

Additional Ingredients and Decorations:

5 packages Dark Mint Tim Tam® Biscuit
Wilton 1M frosting tip
2 fresh mint leaves

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line and grease three eight-inch cake pans.

Begin by making the mocha chocolate cake layers. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk together until combined (be sure there aren’t any clumps! If there are, you may want to sift your ingredients).

Pour in the coffee and buttermilk into the dry ingredients, until fully incorporated. Add in oil and eggs, and stir until smooth. The last step is to stir in the vanilla. The batter will be on the thin side, but that’s the correct consistency!

Divide the batter evenly between the three cake pans, and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let the cakes sit for about 5 minutes. Gently run an offset spatula around the rim of the cake pans to loosen them. Place the cake pans in the freezer to speed up the cooling process, and to trap in additional moisture.

While the cake layers bake and cool, make the mint buttercream. Beat the butter on a medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment, until smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Alternate with small splashes of cream.

Once fully mixed, add in the mint extract and salt, and beat on low until the ingredients are fully incorporated, and the desired consistency is reached.

If the frosting is too thick, add in additional cream (1 teaspoon at a time). If the frosting is too thin, add in more powdered sugar (quarter of a cup at a time).

Mix in the green gel food coloring one drop at a time, to ensure you achieve a light shade of green. Place 1/4 of the frosting into a large piping bag, and trim to have a 1 inch opening.

Once the cake layers are cooled and ready for assembly, make the mint whipped cream. Chill a large metal bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Add heavy cream into bowl, and beat on high using a whisk attachment. Quickly add in the sugar and mint extract, and continue to mix until medium to stiff peaks form (should only take about 1 minutes from start to finish). Be sure not to over beat, or else you can end up with butter!!

To assemble the cake, place chocolate cake layer on a grease-proof cardboard cake round. Pipe a ring of mint buttercream around the edge of the cake layer, and add 1/4 of the whipped cream into the center of the cake. The buttercream will act as a dam, to keep the whipped cream in place between the layers. It will give the cake stability once it’s assembled, and prevent any whipped cream from seeping out into the crumb coat.

Smooth the whipped cream inside the frosting ring using a small offset spatula, and place chopped Dark Mint Tim Tam^® biscuits on top on the whipped cream. Smooth an additional scoop of whipped cream on top of the biscuits. Repeat this process with the second cake layer.

Once all three layers are stacked, cover the cake in a thin crumb coat with the mint frosting, and chill in the freezer or fridge for about 5 minutes.

Once the crumb coat is firm to the touch, add a second layer of frosting. Smooth using a bench scraper. You can see a full tutorial on how to frost a cake with smooth sides here.

Once smooth, cut up Dark Mint Tim Tam^® biscuits into a variety of sizes, to create a biscuit gradient up the side of the cake.

Cut the biscuits into four different sizes (halving, quartering, etc.). Place the largest bits around the base, of the cake, then slowly work up the cake using increasingly smaller Tim Tam biscuit pieces.

Once the entire side of the cake is covered, place remaining buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M frosting tip. Pipe small swirls around the tops of the cake. If desired, chill the cake for an additional 5 minutes in the freezer, then drizzle a bit of chocolate ganache over each swirl. Top each swirl with a bit of fresh mint leaf.

Be sure to let this cake sit in the fridge overnight, to ensure that you achieve the icebox effect in filling of the cake. Take the cake out of the fridge a couple hours before serving, to allow it warm to room temperature.

This cake serves about 20 people. If you aren’t a huge fan of mint, you could definitely pick a different Tim Tam^® flavor, and omit the mint extract from this recipe. A fun variation would be to use classic Tim Tam^® biscuits, and frost the cake with a chocolate buttercream.

August 7, 2018August 3, 2018

ChelsweetsLeave a comment

Easy Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

My classic american buttercream recipe is my top blog post, and is also my most frequently requested recipe!

While I feel comfortable swapping in and out ingredients to make different flavors using this base recipe, I realize that you guys might want to know the recipe for my frequently used variations.

When it comes to buttercream (and baking in general), I always like to keep things simple! While there are tons of delicious types of buttercream out there (Swiss, German, Italian, French…), I prefer American Buttercream!

Why? I don’t like to mess with eggs when it comes to frosting, and I enjoy the way American buttercream tastes.

I find I’m disappointing when bite into a cake with Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC). SMBC is much lighter and less sweet, and it leaves me feeling unsatisfied. This is just my personal opinion!

It’s definitely the sweetest type of buttercream (Duff Goldman calls it sweetened butter :P), but I grew up eating sweet icing, and have always had a huge sweet tooth!! I grew up loving pop tarts, cans of sugary frosting, and fruity candies!

If you didn’t grow up eating American sweets, or if you don’t have a big sweet tooth, this frosting recipe might be too sweet for you.

However, I do find that my chocolate buttercream tastes a bit less sweet than my vanilla buttercream.

If you’re looking for a rich chocolaty cake filling, or a something that is chocolaty but a bit less sweet, I highly recommend trying ganache!

The cake below is covered in milk chocolate ganache, and it is a really great alternative to chocolate buttercream.

So here you have it, the recipe for my second most popular flavor of buttercream -CHOCOLATE!

It takes my vanilla buttercream recipe, and adds in baking cocoa, and a touch more heavy cream to balance out the thickening effect of the cocoa!

You can also add more cocoa if desired, to get a stronger chocolate taste. Just be sure to add in more heavy cream as well, to maintain the consistency of the frosting.

This frosting is just as easy to make as my vanilla buttercream, and is a dream to frost cakes and cupcakes with.

When using this to frost my favorite vanilla layer cake recipe (which can be used to make four 7 inch or 8 inch cake layers), I usually make 1.5 – 2 batches, depending on how I’m decorating the cake.

NOTE: If you are making frosting for a cake, it is important to mix the buttercream on low at the end of the process for a couple minutes, to get out any extra air that might have be incorporated during the mixing process.

This will make it easier to get super smooth sides on your cake!

Easy Chocolate Buttercream

This chocolate buttercream recipe is so easy, you'll never buy store bought frosting again!! It's made with only 6 ingredients, and takes less than 10 minutes to make!!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chelsweets, chocolate american buttercream, chocolate buttercream, chocolate cake icing, chocolate frosting recipe, easy choclate frosting recipe

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 1 seven inch layer cake