OK, what should I make this weekend?

what do you want to see? I promise nothing.

Because I have an ego the size of a small city

I thought I'd post/share/brag about this email I got about the strawberry cake from one of Elaine's coworkers.

"Ok, Robert, we have not met yet, but Elaine shared your masterpiece with me today and I need tell you that this was the best tasting cake I have ever had. It was amazing for texture and the light strawberry flavor-- elusive but undeniable. I don't think there is a better word than "Fresh". I shared this cake with my office colleagues--the response was an enthusiastic one---unbelievable cake!"

Now I will struggle to get around with this (even more) inflated ego

Rachel's cake

so for little rachel's b-day, i was going to do a mocha cake. but after talking to jon i decide to make her a strawberry cake.

i talked to rachel a little about it and how it was assembled. and well, if you've known me for more than 10 minutes, you know my mind tends to wander. So I sort of winged it. and if i say so myself, this cake turned out really good. i am not a huge fan of strawberries. but it had a great flavor

I used the usual buttercream recipe except I omitted the chocolate and replaced it with strawberry goodness.

I threw a half pint of berries into a pot with ~.25 cup of sugar

added a pinch of salt and turned the heat to medium.
cook that stirring occasionally. it will break down the berries and add awesomeness.


it's important to taste it at this stage. this batch of berries were not super sweet. so i had to add sugar to get the taste right.
then, i hit it with the stick blender to smooth it out.
now cook it on low for a bit until it is reduced and thickened. make sure to stir it so it does not burn.

set that aside to let cool. once the butter has been added to the buttercream, throw about a half cup of the strawberry mixture in to flavor. i added a few drops of red food color as well. so the end result is nice and pink. cooked berries can get a muddy color after a while. as well, this makes a good strawberry sauce. just strain it to remove any of the those evil little seeds. seeds are agents of the devil.

throw the buttercream in the fridge to get it set up. you can make this a few days ahead to save time.


The Cake

this is the yellow butter cake from the cake bible
super easy and really quick

oven to 350

6 yolks
1 c milk
2.25 tsp vanilla (or 1 bean)
10.5 oz cake flour (sifted)
10.5 oz sugar
4 tsp baking powder
.25 tsp table salt
6 oz butter


combine the yolks and about .25 cup of the milk.
combine dry ingredients and mix for a minute or so
add the butter and remaining milk, mix on low to combine
then mix on medium for a few minutes
scrape sides of the bowl
add egg mixture in 3 steps, scraping after each addition

when you put the batter in a pan, remember that these will rise more than you expect. so make sure not to fill the pans to more than halfway.

The Filling

rachel gave me a general description of the filling in this cake. so i took a swing at it.

i put 2 8 oz pachages of room temp cream cheese in the mixer. started it on low to get it broken up and added about a half cup of sugar and a pinch of salt. let it go on med low for a minute or so to get mixed well. just make sure there are no lumps. you can add vanilla if that floats your boat. (it floated mine)

then i diced up 4-5 strawberries



and folded them into the mixture


i then whipped about a cup of cream with some powdered sugar. i didn't really measure the sugar. just add enough to make it taste good. start with .25 cup and go from there.

once it was at medium peaks, i folded that into the rest and it all goes into the fridge.


i cut each cake into two layers and filled it with a layer of the cream cheese mixture along with halved berries



keep doing that until it's time for the buttercream. as always, i did a crumb coat first.



the final result.


and since hakamadog has been given a clean bill of health by the doggie oncologist, she gets more ice

Teaser for the next recipe

Strawberry buttercream frosting is good

Italian creme cake

This cake is similar to carrot cake. Just without the carrots.

Off we go
Oven to 375

For the icing, you can use the same icing that we made for carrot cake (see, I told you they were similar)

Ingredients are as follows

butter 12 oz
sugar 17 oz
corn syrup 2 oz
eggs 4
cake flour 12 oz
baking powder 1 tsp
salt .25 oz
buttermilk 10 oz
vanilla .5 oz extract or 1 bean
pecans 4 oz
coconut 4 oz
egg whites 7 oz



cucumber and tomatoes are optional

throw the butter in the mixer and beat until fluffy.
add sugar, vanilla, and salt then corn syrup
sift the cake flour and baking soda together and add one third
add one third of the buttermilk
take turns adding milk and flour
once all combined, add the nuts and coconut
set that aside for a minute
whip the egg whites to soft peaks
fold the whites in to the cake mix



I made a small cake and some cupcakes.


Ice with the cream cheese and enjoy