Brave Cake

I was commissioned to do a Brave cake for a little girl's 5th birthday. The boys and I watched the movie a night before I started the cake so I could be familiar with the characters, storyline and scenery. This is a 9" two layered vanilla cake. It ended up being a lesson in icing.

I made 4 kinds- strawberry Swiss buttercream, vanilla Swiss buttercream, vanilla Italian buttercream and royal icing.  Strawberry Swiss buttercream was too sweet and wasn't as smooth as I wanted due to too much strawberry puree. I lessened it in the recipe below. This was the filling for the cake.  Then I made a vanilla Swiss buttercream to crumb coat the cake. This had a yellowish tint to it and was pretty dense but was smooth and had a great flavor. The third icing was vanilla Italian buttercream which I used to frost the cake. This was fluffy and white. The fourth icing was royal icing. This was great for coloring and piping into various designs. It held its shape well. 

I used a variety of decorating tips for piping- star, leaf, round, and grass. The grass tip was one I had never used before. I also researched Scottish highlands to find the colors for the icing. I like the heather is particular which I got from mixing red, sky blue, and pink. I made the waterfall using blue sparkle gel and spreading it with a small paint brush. The rocks are candy one I bought from the local candy shop. The figurines of Merida, the bear and bow and arrow were purchased from a toy store.

Vanilla Birthday Cake

Inspired by Sweetapolita

Makes 3- 8" cakes or 2- 9" cakes

4 large eggs (separated), at room temperature

3 1/2 cups (420 g) sifted cake flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2  teaspoon salt

1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar, divided

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup (250 mL) milk, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180° C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour three - 8 inch round cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and grease and flour parchment paper.
2. While eggs are still cold, separate them, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic warp and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using, about 30 mins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
5. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
6. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
7. In the clean bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
8. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over-mix the batter or it will deflate.
9. Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula.
10. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan gently. Once the cakes of completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour (to make filling and frosting the cakes easier). 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup pureed strawberry jam if making strawberry buttercream

1. Whisk eggs and sugar in a bowl over simmering water until temperature reaches 140 degrees F.

2. Pour hot mixture into a stand mixer bowl and whip with whisk attachment on medium high speed. Whip to stiff peaks.

3. Cut butter into Tbsp. sized pieces. Change whisk attachment to paddle attachment. Add in 4 parts gradually increasing speed from low to medium high. Beat until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl and add vanilla extract. Beat in strawberry puree if making strawberry buttercream. Store in airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 1 week if not using right away.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

3 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cold water

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

1. Beat cream of tartar and egg whites in stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment until stiff peaks form.

2. In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and salt. Heat till it reaches 238 degrees F.

3.  Pour hot syrup into the bowl while whites are still whisking. Make sure the syrup doesn't touch the side of the bowl or the whisk.

4. Whisk until bowl is cool about 6 minutes.

5. Cut the butter into Tbsp. sized pieces. Whisk until smooth then add in vanilla and almond extract. Beat until light and fluffy.


Royal Icing

37 g meringue powder

120 ml. cold water

454 g sifted confectioner's sugar

1/2 tsp. lemon extract

Stir meringue powder and water in stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment. Beat about 2 minutes on medium high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar slowly. Add lemon extract and beat on medium high speed for 5 minutes until stiff peaks form. Cover with plastic wrap. Keeps 2 weeks at room temperature in an airtight container in a cool place.