strawberry shortcake cake

Birthday are always fun, but oh so over the top! We were celebrating Charlotte's 4th birthday this weekend. And a birthday is totally about cake. Although if you ask my daughter, it's also about balloons, and streamers, and party hats, and goody bags. Oh and gifts. (A purple, glitery recorder and a Disney Princess lamp...) But going back to cake. And in this case, 3 cakes. One for my family, one for my husband's family, and one for school. It's a good thing I love to bake!

First cake is being served in the morning, so I though I'd go easy on the heavy fillings and frostings, and stick to something simple. Amanda from I am Baker, made this amazing looking strawberry shortcake. See, nice and healthy for a morning snack.

Just so we don't have tons of leftover cakes, i'm making 6 inch ones this year. This first one is a layer of red velvet cake, whipped cream, strawberries, a layer of white buttermilk cake, whipped cream, strawberries, a layer of red velvet, whipped cream, strawberries. Wow. This is a case where a picture is really worth a thousand words.

I used Alton Brown's Red Velvet Cake recipe again and filled 3 6 inch pans, baked for 30 minutes. Came out perfect.

We had two cartons of buttermilk in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I Googled white buttermilk layer cake and came across this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens (my favorite american magazine btw) and tried this recipe almost as written, even if the directions seemed weird to me. I mean, put dry ingredients in a mixer, then add shortening, buttermilk and vanilla? Wouldn't that 1) make a huge mess, and 2) not combine properly? Then add egg whites. Seemed all wrong to me.

Turns out, when all your ingredients are at room temperature, this is one of the easiest cake ever. Took no time at all to make, and it filled 3 6 inch pans perfectly. Baked for 30 minutes. Best of all? One bowl!

white buttermilk cake

recipe slightly adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

4 egg whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp. vanilla

1. Let egg whites stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 6-inch round baking pans; set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add buttermilk, butter, and vanilla; beat on low until combined. Beat on medium 2 minutes more, scraping bowl. Add egg whites; beat 2 minutes more.

3. Spread in pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched and wooden pick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

This white cake really came out on top! I had frozen it, along with the red velvet, and the white one was super moist, flavorful, very, very good. I might have found my new favorite white cake. The red velvet by comparison seemed dry and just, well... blah.

The only thing with the white cake, as it cools, it kinda shrinks down, so its shape wasn't the greatest to work with, as it was wider at the bottom than the top. Maybe taking it out of the pans earlier and letting the cakes cool on racks would help?

I had planned on using four layers just like Amanda did on her cake, but just slicing through the 3 layers was brutal, and the plates too small. So I'm happy my husband piped up when I was about to add the forth layer! I basically served the two bottom layers on their sides in the plate, and the top layer standing up beside them. Let's just say it was a deconstructed strawberry shortcake cake!