I BAKED A CAKE! No... TWO CAKES!

Hello and welcome back to another Nikoli's Kitchen! Today... I baked a cake! And then I loved it so much I did it again!

 

Featured Recipe for this Episode

White Cake Recipe:

9 T unsalted butter, softened
3 c caster Sugar (600 g)**
1 c canola oil
4 t vanilla
4 c all-Purpose flour (500 g)
2 T cornstarch
4-1/2 t baking Powder
1-1/2 t salt
1-1/2 c milk
9 egg whites at room temperature
1/2 c sprinkles (optional)

** To make caster sugar, add white sugar to a mortal and pestle or a blender and grind until it is fine. Its consistency should be between regular sugar and powdered sugar. You can just use regular white sugar here if you'd like.

Preheat oven to 350°.
Spray three 8" or 9" cake pans (I own the latter) with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. To do this, tear off a square of parchment. Fold it in half, then in half again until you have a smaller square. Then fold the edges over so it forms a point at one end, then again, and then again until you have a long, thin triangle. Flip over your cake pan and put the tip of the triangle at the center. Trim the fat end just before the edge of the bottom of the cake pan. Unfold and you'll have a nice circle that should fit well over the bottom of your cake pan.
In a stand mixer, beat butter on medium-low speed until it is creamy.
Add sugar and oil and beat until well-combined and creamy. This will increase in volume pretty substantially as well. You want it to be tripled in volume.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then stir in the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together your flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
Measure out your milk.
Mix 1/3 of your flour mixture into the butter/oil mixture at medium speed, just until combined.
Mix 1/2 of your milk into the batter just until combined.
Repeat the above two steps, mixing only until combined.
Mix in the remainder of your flour mixture just until combined. Do not over-mix or your cake will become dense and chewy.
Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer or with your stand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites and sprinkles into the batter. Do not over-mix! 
Divide your cake batter evenly over your prepared cake pans.
Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes (less time for the larger pan, more for the smaller one). Rotate the cake pans halfway through baking to make sure they bake evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. 
Place a small cooling rack over each cake pan and flip it over, holding the rack against the pan. The cake should release onto the cooling rack with little trouble.
Remove the pan and allow the cake to cool completely before frosting. Be sure to remove the parchment paper before frosting the cake.

This cake recipe is adapted largely from https://sugarspunrun.com/funfetti-cake-scratch/ with some additional tips from https://www.youtube.com/@benjaminthebaker. 

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

9 T unsalted butter, softened
1-1/3 c powdered sugar
1/2 c dark chocolate cocoa powder
2 t heavy cream or milk (more or less to desired consistency)

Whip together all ingredients in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. 
** Note - I tripled this recipe for the three cakes. 

This recipe is from https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/buttercream-cupcake-frosting-recipes/.

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting:

8 T unsalted butter, softened
2-1/2 c powdered sugar
12 oz raspberries
1/2 c water
2 T sugar
1/2 t raspberry extract

Add raspberries to a saucepan with 1/2 c water and 2 T sugar.
Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes.
Strain out your raspberries- save them for layering between your cakes!
Continue cooking the syrup, reducing it down until you have about 1/2 c raspberry syrup. 
Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and beat at high speed until light and fluffy.

 

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Guest Appearances

I had the privilege of sitting down with Brendan of Unchefed to talk about food, mental health, and life. Check out this great conversation at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-love-food-nicholas-haskins-from-nikolis-kitchen/id1578898329?i=1000568984881!

I was thrilled to be invited back to Movie Reviews in 20 Qs, where I joined Liz and Billy to talk about the new murder mystery See How They Run! Tune in at https://mritqs.podbean.com/e/ep-216-see-how-they-run-w-nikoli-s-kitchen-and-we-watched-a-thing/! (Note: NSFW).

I had the honor of joining Billy on the We Watched a Thing podcast to talk about the latest entry in the View Askewniverse, Clerks III! Check out our discussion at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clerks-iii-w-nick-from-nikolis-kitchen/id1315531685?i=1000583178272 (Note: NSFW). 

 

Credits

Intro "Early Bloomer" by Magnus Ludvigsson. Licensed from Epidemic Sound. Check out his incredible music at https://open.spotify.com/artist/1ZdkboTg5bXbk7siTMxVc7.

Outro "Midnight Swing" by Jules Gaia. Licensed from Epidemic Sound. Check out more of his wonderful tunes at https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GXiq6QQjWFEgHjd3TRaCt!

Other music in this episode licensed from Epidemic Sound. Learn more and sign up for a free trial with access to thousands of songs at https://www.epidemicsound.com/.

Track Listing:

"Winter in Brooklyn" by Wendy Marcini.
"Through Orbiting Stars" by Gerard Franklin.