It's been a busy month with work and to top it off, I've been super busy planning for my hub's birthday celebration. This was no ordinary b-day, as my eternally youthful hubs was celebrating his 50th! Just yesterday, we returned from that birthday celebration weekend up in Paso Robles, CA. With a weekend of fantastic wine, delious meals, and in the company of some wonderful friends, I think the birthday boy was quite content. The folks at Justin and Tablas Creek really made our wine tasting afternoon fun and interesting (and we tasted some really amazing wines), and our dinner at Artisan was exceptional.After being such a flake this past month, I'm determined to regain my baking and blogging mojo and kick things into gear.
This week's TWD selection for Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake is the perfect remedy to get me out of my funk, so THANK U Carol of mix, mix...stir, stir for making this excellent selection! Besides, I couldn't miss out on an opportunity to bake along with Carol, who is a totally talented baker & cook who has a great knack for spices.
I was a little ambitious with this cake, and had to seriously hustle to get the cake baked, frosted and photographed yesterday afternoon. The effort was definitely worth it, as I thought this cake was truly exceptional.The beautiful white cake layers were moist and tender, yet was able to hold it's own stacked in a layer cake. The lemon scented buttercream was delicious (you just need to block out in your mind the 3 sticks of butter that go into the frosting). I went along with the recipe using raspberry jam between the layers.
Next time, I would omit the raspberry jam in the layers, as it got a bit messy to frost and slice. I hope that I wasn't the only one having layers slipping and sliding all over the place. Without the jam, I would definitely recommend doubling the buttercream recipe (I personally like a thick slathering of frosting on my cakes).
If you'd like to make this cake (which I highly recommend), you can find the complete recipe at Carol's blog. To see the beautiful cake creations of my fellow bakers, please make sure to check out the TWD blogroll.
Beautiful, beautiful cake!!!!! I love your layers and the glorious contrasting raspberries are beyond yummy!
ReplyDeleteI made cupcakes instead! ;)
Fab job!
I used strawberry jam and cream cheese icing.
ReplyDeleteI made it for the boy's birthday, and he asked that there be no fru-fru on top, so mine is very plain.
Fabulous cake
ton gâteau est magnifique Linda, j'aime cette simplicité qui fait tout le raffinement ! superbe :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to your hubs!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful cake. And the photos belong in Gourmet magazine or Dorie's book!! ;)
I, as usual, haven't started yet. :)
Very fresh, elegant and classy looking. Everything everyone wants in a summer perfect cake! Nicely done, Linda... Bravo.
ReplyDeleteYou did a beautiful job with your cake! It looks so elegant! I had the "slippery slides" too, so I stuck some wooden skewers in it to keep it in place. And yes, you can never have too much buttercream! ;)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cake! The jam sounds like it was annoying to deal with, but it makes for fantastic looking cake layers.
ReplyDeleteI think your baking mojo is back! What a beautiful cake and a great way to just keep on celebrating your husband’s birthday! Thanks for joining in on this week's recipe with me.
ReplyDeleteYour cake is absolutely beautiful - I love the raspberries on top!! Glad your hubby's 50th was so fun! :)
ReplyDeleteYour cake is absolutely beautiful! The layers are so nice and thick!!
ReplyDeletesounds like you planned a fab bday celebration, happy bday to your hubby!
ReplyDeleteAnd what a cake it looks delicious!!!
WOW, if that's not a fine example of Dorie's cake then I don't know what is!
ReplyDeleteMy mom adores raspberries. I make her this cake and I'm sure to secure the "favorite" spot! :)
~ingrid
That cake is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteSo gorgeous!! Love the fresh berries on the top :) This is my favorite white cake recipe since making it in May. I've been saving the pictures for today's post LOL
ReplyDeleteYour cake is simply beautiful. The raspberries on top just take it to a whole new level.
ReplyDeleteYour cake looks perfect! I love the pile of fresh berries on top. Next time I'm doing that.
ReplyDeleteOH!! That looks fantastic, Linda. Fabulous looking cake.
ReplyDeleteYou did a beautiful job with that cake! I almost made the very same recipe a few weeks back - Dorie Greenspan is one of my favorite cookbook authors.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cake! I love the berries on top. The red and white combo is really striking.
ReplyDeleteWOW, that cake looks perfect for a party or anytime. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYour cake is, without a doubt, the most beautiful I've seen today. Really, really awesome job. I love all of the raspberries on top - it's so colorful and festive!
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous with the fresh berries on top! I also like more frosting so I had a tough time getting the cake covered!
ReplyDeletethat cake slice looks incredible! It may have been slip and slidey, but it's so pretty.
ReplyDeletegreat job!
well, that's just astoundingly gorgeous, and of course there's no doubt in my mind that it'd be delicious. exquisite work!
ReplyDeleteI would totally pay actual money to buy a cake like this from your theoretical pastry shop.
ReplyDeleteWell done!
Look at that cake!! You've definitely got your mojo going on with this one. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog and all I can say is WOW this cake is marvellous. I m drooling like mad .
ReplyDeleteYour Perfect Party Cake is Gorgeous!! I love all the raspberries on top! And I wish my cake layers were as thick as yours! It looks soo delicious!
ReplyDeletewow, is that pretty! those raspberries on top are so red and gorgeous! happy 50th to your hubby!!
ReplyDeleteWow, you really hit a home run with this cake! Mine looks horrible, but it tasted great. Well done!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely got your baking mojo back. This cake is so beautiful! Well done.
ReplyDeleteYour cake is beautiful. I love all the pretty raspberries on top. This was delicious. Love your photos. Sounds like you had some fun wine tasting too. I think everything is a bit more fun if there is wine tasting involved.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, you were NOT alone in your slippery slidey-ness. My cake was shimmying all over the place. I love, love, love the perfectly placed raspberries on top, too--the perfect touch.
ReplyDeleteStunning cake! Your version is very elegant, and I am so going to have to make this cake....and soon. Personally, I might have to keep the preserves and just let the cake slip and slide.
ReplyDeleteAn elegantly beautiful cake -- and you present it so beautifully too! Great photos!!
ReplyDeleteYour cake looks 100% perfectly perfect! I really love how elegant it turned out.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Perfecto! Your cake slices are beautiful and I love the raspberries on top. They are perfect. I love raspberries whey they are all uniform and you did a great job with the fruit. Beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteAmyRuth