My birthday is coming up and I want to make my own cake (pic related). Unfortunately I'm a baking novice, with only box mix cupcakes under my belt.
Can someone suggest a recipe, and possibly a site or two with baking tips?
>>6006285
You've got to make your own cake for your birthday? That's depressing dude.
>>6006304
Called being an adult sadly.
>>6006306
>tfw no gf to make you a cake
I understand
>>6006306
Depends. Some adults still have loved ones to do these things for them. Personally if I need to make a cake for my own birthday I don't bother unless I am in the mood for cake. Then I don't call it a birthday cake since a birthday cake is actually your first gift and gifts are given by others.
That looks like a boring as fuck cake m8.
What kind of cakes do you like? Fruity shit?
Op here.
>>6006306
>>6006304
No, I'm excited to learn how to bake. It's something I thought I would try to learn this winter (too hot in the summer).
>>6006308
I am the girlfriend, well wife actually.
>>6006316
Simple cakes can still be very good. Besides, I chose this cake because I'm known as the jam lady in my town. My friends all get jam/jelly for Christmas, it's kinda my thing.
I have a batch of raspberry chipotle I want to use for a jam cake.
>>6006349
>Your husband doesn't bake you a cake.
Reminds me so much of my mother.
You are British aren't you?
>>6006285
I haven't made it myself but it looks pretty simple.
Make a light sponge cake, possibly with some additional spices that goes well with the jam you'll be using, in a round spring pan. Try your best to cut it in three (or two if you don't want to fail), slather it with jam and possibly some whipped cream, depends on the jam really. Then you apply frosting if you are American or whipped cream if you aren't.
If it's the kind of jam that would go well with chocolate, you can either grate it on top or chop it in pieces and mix with the cream.
"Perfect Party Cake"
MAKES 12 TO 14 SERVINGS
SERVING: The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room—not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience, you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.
STORING: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to 2 days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well—it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.
FOR THE CAKE
2¼ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FOR FINISHING
⅔ cup seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
>>6006478
Correction, I've made similar stuff before but never come across the term jam cake or looked at recipes of it before. And this is how I'd make something similar to what you posted.
GETTING READY: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
TO MAKE THE CAKE: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch—a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)
TO MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate—just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream left over). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.
Since lemon is such a friendly flavor, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves—cherry or strawberry—look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.
FRESH BERRY PARTY CAKE: If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries—use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake in the refrigerator—let it sit for about 20 minutes at a cool room temperature before serving.
>>6006285
the time that my friends made a surprise cake for me was the happiest in my life
now i have no friends
>>6007069
That's sad.
>>6008387
Then he shouldn't have trapped them in that house he accidentally lit on fire.
>>6006349
cunt
Happy birthday to me ...
happy birthday to me ....
Happy birthday, dear Anon ...
happy birthday to me ....
OP, are you in your mid to late thirties without any children?
I saved the "perfect party cake", that sounds worth a try.
Hints for baking cakes:
Butter s/b about 65F -- if it's too warm, the cake will have problems
Stand mixer or hand mixer saves you a lot of labor. At least whisk>spoon to save labor.
Grease the cake pans (veg shortening), then put in some flour, spread that around by tapping, then dump out the excess, THEN cut a circle out of parchment paper, THEN grease that, THEN get it some flour, too -- having your cake stick in the pan is a major drag.
Get some cooling racks to cool the cake. They're handy. Worth the money.
Have fun!
>>6010371
...why...
>>6010367
happy birthday
don't forget to not accidentally kill yourself
>>6010555
Are you and your husband who is also in his thirties trying to have a child, but are failing?
You wanted to have a child when you were financially stable, but your business didn't become stable and big until you were 35, and now it's probably too late for you to have kids.
Which is too bad, you really wanted to be a stay at home mom, but you have to settle for barren homemaker.
Is that right?
>>6010638
not Op but wtf does that have to do with jam cake
You can never go wrong with a traditional victoria sponge:
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/9196/traditional-victoria-sponge.aspx?o_is=Hub_TopRecipe_2
>>6006455
>I'm a proud Kentuckian.
It's just that jam cake sounds so British.
>>6012157
Why? What sounds British about Jam cake?
>>6014695
It's because Brits are used to getting it jammed in their arse by Muzzies
>>6014695
Americans in my region call it all jelly. The only time you see those kind of cakes is at special events and they're from a bakery. We don't even call them anything in particular except cake.
>>6014811
What reigon is that?
Did you make the cake Op?
>>6014875
The American region. USA USA USA
>>6015712
No, she cried into her apron because no qt3.14 husbando to make her birfday caek
>>6015831
I understand. Stiff upper lip and all.
