Fiona Poole Quick Handbag Cake
My birthday has been and gone for another year but was an excuse to make another cake! This year the kids and I decided to do a handbag cake. We cheated a little using a wooden handbag handle instead of making it out of sugar. Inside a lemon vanilla cake with raspberry meringue buttercream icing. Both recipes from The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City’s Famed Bakery
I also tried out a new technique that I had seen Buddy Valastro on The Cake Boss use. After the cake was dry I took to it with the steamer! I was a little nervous at first but was so happy with the result. The areas that I steamed became beautiful and satiny, I will use the steamer more often 🙂
Recipes:
Vanilla Cake (makes 1 half sheet)
2 cups cake flour
1 3/4 cups plain flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup egg whites (about 7 eggs)
1 1/2 cups milk
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line cake pans.
Sift flours and baking powder together in a large bowl
In the stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add the salt and vanilla
Set the mixer to low, add egg whites gradually, scraping often
Alternately add flour mixture and milk, scraping in between. Mix well on medium approx 20 seconds
Put the mix into the pan and cook approx 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean
Cool in pan for 20 minutes then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely
To make it a lemon cake add the zest and juice of two lemons to the batter when you add the salt and vanilla
Swiss- Meringue Buttercream (makes 8 cups)
2 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups egg whites
2 1/2 cups unsalted butter cubed and softened
1/4 cup pure vanilla extract
In bowl of stand mixer, thoroughly whisk together sugar and egg whites.
Set bowl over pot of boiling water. Whisk constantly, heat the mixture until all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot.
Put the bowl back on the stand mixer and whisk on high-speed until mixture forms a stiff meringue and the bottom of the bowl comes to room temperature, approx 10mins.
replace the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment and slowly add the butter, a few cubes at a time.
Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
turn to low and add vanilla.
use buttercream immediately or store at room temp for up to 2 days or in fridge for 10 days.
To make this raspberry buttercream add 1/2 cup of seedless raspberry puree with the vanilla.
Fiona Poole 
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