Vanilla Cake filled with Grapefruit & Lime Curd

Did I drown my sorrows in cake yesterday after our beloved Canucks got their butts kicked in the Stanley Cup final? Sadly no! I ate pizza and pouted on the couch while my team succumbed to Boston's superior play.

Any way... I'm done pouting now and thought I would share this delicious cake with you! I made it quite some time ago and have been meaning to post about it, but its a bit more involved post so I've been putting it off. Don't mind the awful photos... it was late at night when I finished this, so the lighting is terrible and I didn't get any photos the next day, so you'll have to bear with me!

First off, make the grapefruit & lime curd. Use this recipe and substitute fresly squeezed grapefruit juice and lime juice (3:1 proportions). Use the larger quantity of sugar because grapefruit is quite bitter. You may also want to double the recipe to ensure you have enough to fill the cake! Let the curd cool and set while you bake the cake.

Snow White Cake

Recipe Adapted from Mennonite Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter


• 2 cups sugar


• 3 cups flour


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 cup milk (plus extra to thin the batter to a reasonable consistency)


• 1/2 tsp lemon extract


• zest of one lemon


• zest of one lime


• 4 egg whites

Method:

1. Lightly grease cake pans (makes 3 8" cakes) and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350F.


2. In a large bowl blend butter and sugar. Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add alternately with the milk to the first mixture. Add milk as desired to thin out the batter (I added about an extra 3/4 of a cup). Add zest and lemon extract. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into batter. Pour into prepared cake pans.


3. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.


4. Cool cakes completely.


5. Fill with grapefruit-lime curd (recipe above).


6. Ice with vanilla buttercream recipe found here.

I'm not going to lie... this is a fairly involved undertaking, but it sure is delicious! I received a lot of compliments from my co-workers and I really enjoyed the cake too. I wasn't entirely happy with the icing job... I tried out a new technique that I had seen over at I am Baker but mine sure didn't look as good as hers. She is the ultimate cake decorator. Check out her blog to see some of the most beautiful cakes and desserts you've ever seen. You'll be in awe... I swear!

You'll love this cake if you decide to try it... even just make the grapefruit-lime curd! Its delicious. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

Oh, and one other thing I wanted to say. For those of you who don't live in Canada or Vancouver, please know that we aren't all like those awful people last night who instigated that horrible riot over a hockey game. Most of us are normal people who love a good hockey game, but would never go to extremes like that to ruin such an exciting event for everyone else. I hope seeing those awful acts won't deter you from visiting or make you think bad things about us.

Happy Baking my Friends!