ATLANTA — With Easter comes a number of beloved and traditional treats, from chocolate bunnies to Cadbury eggs to Peeps.
One cherished sweet among those is the Easter cake.
Bakers Katy Purwin and Christine Roberts shared one of their favorite Easter cakes with 11Alive. The recipe is for a vanilla cake with raspberry filling and vanilla bean buttercream.
Below, find their recipe, and let us know on Facebook if you gave it a try!
Ingredients:
Vanilla Cake
- 1 c whole milk
- 1 T lemon juice
- 2 t vanilla
- 2.5 c all-purpose flour
- 2 t baking powder
- ¾ t Kosher salt
- 1 ¼ c sugar
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 3 eggs + 2 egg yolks
Almond-Flavored Milk Wash:
- ¼ c whole milk
- ½ t almond extract (or extract of choice)
Vanilla Bean Buttercream:
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 t vanilla bean paste
- 6-8 c powdered sugar, sifted
- ¼ c whole milk
Additional Materials:
- Gel food coloring
- ¾ c raspberry jam, stirred to ensure it’s spreadable
- Fresh flowers that are food-safe
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper.
Stir together milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Set aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in eggs, one at a time, and beat for 1-2 minutes after last egg is added. Mixture should look light and airy.
With mixer on low, alternate adding flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until combined taking care to not overmix.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until cake is set and a toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 45 minutes. Allow cake to cool in pan on a rack.
To make milk wash, simply stir together milk and extract.
To make buttercream, cream butter and vanilla bean paste on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add in half of the powdered sugar and beat to combine. Turn mixer to low and drizzle in milk then add remaining powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Beat at medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy. Reserve about 1.5 cups buttercream to tint desired shades and decorate cake.
Assembly:
Once cake is completely cool, remove from pan and cut out two 6-inch rounds; save scraps to piece together a third round. Lightly poke cake layers and scraps all over with a fork to help milk wash absorb. Brush cake layers with milk wash and allow 1-2 minutes for milk to absorb.
Assemble cake by piping a thick line of buttercream around the base of first layer which will be the layer that is pieced together from the cake scraps. Fill with half of jam. Stack second layer and repeat. Top with final layer. Crumb coat cake with a thin layer of buttercream and chill for at least 20 minutes. Ice cake with a final layer of buttercream and chill again. While cake is chilling, tint reserved buttercream and use to decorate cake. Just before serving, top cake with fresh flowers.