Delicious Cake Recipes From Scratch

EASY RAINBOW CAKE...FROM SCRATCH!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 F.
• Generously grease and flour 6 (9-inch cake pans.) I only had 3 pans so I had to bake in two rounds.
• In a large bowl cream together sugar and butter.
• Mix in eggs until thoroughly incorporated.
• Mix in vanilla extract, buttermilk and heavy cream.
• Mix in half of the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• When mixture is combined, mix in the rest of the flour.
• Divide the batter into six bowls (about 1 cup of batter per bowl)
• Add food coloring to each bowl to create a vibrant red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. (see note on how to make colors)
• Pour each colored batter into the prepared pans and spread out into an even layer. (layers will be thin)
• Bake for 10-15 minutes or until center is set. Do not overbake. Keep a close eye on them as some ovens run hotter and these are thin layers.
• Remove from oven and let cakes cool in the pan until pans are warm enough to touch.
• Run a spatula around the edges of the pans to loosen the cake and then very carefully remove the cakes from the pans.
• Place on a cooling rack and cool completely.
• Meanwhile make the cream cheese frosting by creaming together cream cheese and butter.
• Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla.
• Place the violet layer down first and frost. Followed by the blue layer, green layer, yellow layer, orange layer and finally the red layer. (frost between each layer)
• Place a thin coat of the icing on the cake to create a crumb coat. This will make the cake even all around and seal any loose crumbs.
• Once the crumb coat is set, finish frosting the cake.
• Slice & serve!
• (To create more defined layers of frosting between the colors, place the frosted cake in the fridge to allow the cream cheese frosting to firm up before slicing)

LEMON CAKE FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Grease and flour two 8 inch pans ( my pans are 2 inches deep). You could also divide the batter between three 8 inch pans for slightly thinner layers which allows for an additional layer of filling.
• In a medium sized bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and zest of 2 lemons. Whisk to blend and set aside.
• In another bowl, add the milk, vegetable oil and lemon juice, and lemon extract. Whisk to blend and set aside.
• In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed 3 to 5 minutes until it is lightened in color and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and the milk mixture alternately. Begin and end with the flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Slightly increase the speed and mix until combined and smooth, do not mix above medium speed or over mix.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 degrees. If baking three 8 inch pans, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. For two 8 inch pans, bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool in the pans 10 minutes then turn out.
• Combine sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil (3-4 minutes).
• Boil, stirring, for 1 minute more.. Remove the pan from the heat.
• Spoon about 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into a small bowl with egg yolks and stir quickly until combined. Continue stirring, while pouring the egg mixture back into the saucepan.
• Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, until the curd is thickened and lemon colored (1-2 min). Remove from heat and stir in the butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest.-- Let the lemon curd cool, then press plastic wrap onto the surface, this will prevent a skin from forming on the top. Refrigerate.
• This will fill a 2-3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake with some leftover. The recipe can be halved.
• I have refrigerated the lemon curd for a week and it was fine....I'm not sure how long it will keep beyond that. Makes 1 1/4 cups
• Cut butter into 1/2 inch slices and add to the bowl of your mixer, beat until smooth.
• Cut the cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating until blended.
• Add the lemon juice and lemon zest. 1 teaspoon lemon extract, optional for a stronger lemon flavor.
• Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until well blended.
• For the cake pictured in this post, we piped a dam of lemon cream cheese frosting about 1/4 inch inside the edge of the first layer.
• We spread a thin layer of lemon curd frosting, piped and spread a layer of lemon cream cheese frosting on top of it, and added the top cake layer. We thinly crumb coated the cake with our lemon cream cheese frosting before piping large rosettes all over the cake (use a 2D or 1M tip).

THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl and mix until combined.
• In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
• With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Pour the batter into two 8-inch round prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350°F, until a cake tester or toothpick comes out mostly clean (not wet).
• Cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

WHITE CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 335ºF and prepare two 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop or another preferred pan release.
• Combine milk, oil and extracts and set aside
• Combine your flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
• Place butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and cream until smooth. Sprinkle in your sugar and then let whip on high until light and white (about 5 minutes)
• Add the egg whites one at a time (roughly) to the butter mixture while mixing on low and let fully combine after each addition before adding the next. If your egg whites aren't at room temperature you can microwave them for a few seconds. Be careful not to cook them! Cold egg whites will curdle the batter.
• Add in 1/3 of your dry ingredients to the egg/butter mixture and mix on low until just combined. Then add in 1/2 of your liquids, then dry, then liquids and the rest of your dry. Let mix until just combined.
• Add batter into prepared cake pans and bake at 335º F for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center.
• Let cool ten minutes then turn out cakes onto a cooling rack. Wrap warm and place into the freezer to flash chill. This locks in the moisture. Once cool but not frozen you can then trim off the brown edges of your cakes and frost as desired. Chill cake.
• Combine egg whites and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment. Whisk to combine on low then whisk on high, adding in your butter in small chunks, vanilla and salt. Turn mixer up to high and whip until light, fluffy and white.
• Melt chocolate and water in the microwave and whisk until smooth. Add in a couple drops of food coloring. Let cool to about 90 degrees before attempting to drip over the chilled cake. Once chocolate is set, you can combine the everclear and gold dust to make a paint and paint the drip. *note: this is a non-toxic gold dust

INCREDIBLY MOIST AND EASY CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottom with parchment paper and then grease the top. Or grease and flour the bottom and sides of both pans.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176C).
• Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until very well blended.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each one.
• Switch to a large rubber spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the dry ingredients in three parts, gently stirring until they disappear and the batter is smooth.
• Stir in the carrots, nuts, and raisins.
• Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake pans.
• Bake until the tops of the cake layers are springy when touched and when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.
• Cool cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then carefully turn the cake layers out onto cooling racks. Remove the parchment paper and cool completely. If you find that a cake layer is sticking to the bottom of the pan, leave the cake pan upside down and allow gravity to do its thing.
• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with a handheld mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute.
• Beat in the powdered sugar, a 1/4 cup at a time, until fluffy.
• Pour in the whipping cream. Beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the frosting is whipped and creamy. This frosting resembles the texture of whipped cream. Chill covered until ready to frost the cake.
• When the cake layers are completely cool, frost the top of one cake layer, and place the second cake layer on top.
• Add the remaining frosting to the top of the carrot cake and use a butter knife or small spatula to swirl the frosting around. Leave the sides of the cake unfrosted. Finish with a handful of nuts on top.