Great Cake, Bad Frosting!

The roommates are away for the weekend. Justin is at Rock Eagle. What am I going to do?

  Today started off at Spartanburg High School at 7:30am to take two out of five parts of the Praxis II that is required to gain certification. Two dull pencils, an aching wrist, and six hours later I was finally getting in my car to leave!

 

  After spending a good portion of my day answering questions like 'what you would do if...' I was ready to do something I enjoy! Something that my stomach enjoys...too! :)

 I decided I wanted to bake something!

After much deliberation, I decided to make a three layer cake with fruit filling in between the layers! YUM! The top and bottom layer was made from the vanilla recipe below, and the middle layer is lemon! I was in a fruity mood! :)

It turned out GREAT (after a minor setback) and I thought I would share the recipe!

But before I do, I want you to help me solve a problem! Can anyone help me figure out what went wrong with my buttercream frosting? After I decorated the cake (and I even watched a youtube video for help) I decided to taste the icing...big mistake (of not tasting the icing before decorating the cake!) It tasted HORRIBLE! 

Ingredients:

 2T of Milk

2t of Vanilla

2 sticks of (unsalted) butter

4 cups of confectioners sugar.

The milk was not bad (it expires 3/16) and the butter was fresh... any guesses?

After scraping all of the disgusting buttercream frosting off of my once gorgeous cake, I decided to stick with my never-fail-me icing recipe (which I give Lindsey credit for). Thankfully the cake was not ruined because of my "you have to fit into your wedding dress, don't eat the frosting" mindset and it the recipe is worth a try!

Vanilla Layers:

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Cooking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Grease two 9-inch (23-cm) round cake pans.

In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs together until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Add flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and vanilla and beat for another minute, just until the batter is smooth and creamy. Don't overbeat. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan(s).

Bake in preheated at oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick poked into the center of the layer comes out clean. (A single rectangular pan will take longer to bake than two round ones.) Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a thin knife, then turn out onto a rack and peel off the paper. Let cool completely before covering with frosting, if desired.

Lemon Layers:

1-3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift prior to measuring)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk

juice from one lemon (about 3-4 tablespoons)

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

Prepare the cake pan(s). Spray the pans with a little bit of butter flavored cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the sifted flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

   In a bowl, combine the milk and lemon. Set aside.

   Combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. With the mixer set to low, alternate adding between dry and wet ingredients starting and ending with the dry.

  Divide the mixture into the prepared pan(s) and bake until a knife inserted comes out clean. For me, using my 6 inch pan filled 3/4 the way full, it was about 35 minutes.

For the filling:

1 cup frozen mixed berries

1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Puree the berries in a bender until smooth.

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and let bubble for about 2 minutes.

Set aside to cool.

For the icing:

(the good icing!)

1 cup vegetable shortening

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla extract

3 ounces heavy cream

  With an electric mixer, beat shortening until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and continue beating until well blended.

  Add salt, vanilla, cream of tartar and the heavy cream beating on low speed until moistened, adding a small amount of heavy cream if necessary. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.