Home: Pink + Cake + Birthdays

After searching through our favorite recipe sites and books, we finally found "the one". Thanks to the blog Smitten Kitchen we decided on the Pink Lady Cake for our friend Kendra's 20th Birthday party. We knew that with the bright pink color and the silver and gold ball sprinkles on top of a swirly frosting topped cake, it would be a hit. We definitely will make this again and again for future birthday parties, celebrations, or even just for the fun of it. This cake was absolutely perfect in taste and texture. EAT IT...

For the cake
4 1/2 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups pureed frozen strawberries*
8 egg whites
2/3 cup milk
4-8 drops red food dye (depending on the strength of your dye and the desired effect)
*** we used lots of food dye to make the top and bottom layers a cute bright pink, and extra EXTRA dye to make the middle layer a deep, dark pink. The effect was awesome (it drew oooohs and ahhhhhs from onlookers as the cake was cut)- so pretty!

For the cream cheese frosting
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Make the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 350»F. Butter three 9-inch round or 8-inch square cake pans. Line with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds.

3. Beat room temp butter and pureed strawberries together until combined (may be lumpy).

4. Add the butter and strawberry puree to the dry ingredients and mix to blend. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point.

5. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and red food dye, if using, to blend. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorperate after each addition. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.

6. Bake the cakes for 30 to 34 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Invert and turn out onto wire racks and peel off the paper liners. Let stand until completely cooled before assembling the cake, at least an hour.

Make the cream cheese frosting
7. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Frost and assemble the cake
8. Place one cake layer on a cake board or platter. Tucking scraps of waxed paper under the edges of the cake will protect the board or plate from any mess created while frosting the cake. (I forgot, as can be clearly seen above.) Spread about 2/3 cup frosting over the layer, spreading it to the edge. Repeat with the second layer. Add the top layer and frost the top and sides of cake with remaining frosting, reserving a small amount if you wish to tint it and pipe a decoration on the cake. If not, you can decorate the cake top with thinly-sliced strawberries. Remove the waxed strips to reveal and neat, clean cake board.