Yellow Cake with Strawberries and White Chocolate Frosting

I made this cake for my friend Berto's birthday. I thought the frosting was pretty good (REALLY SWEET) and the cake was good, but I will continue to seek for a perfect yellow cake recipe.

Ingredients for the cake:
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup milk
strawberries (for the cake decor)
grated white chocolate (also cake decor)

Beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs in, one at a time. Add the vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture alternatively with the milk. Divide between two 9 inch spring form pans (or make sure to grease and flour the pans really really well.)
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.


For the frosting:

6 oz of white chocolate
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups of powdered sugar

Melt the white chocolate with the cream in the microwave. Then add the butter and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Gradually at the powdered sugar until the frosting becomes fluffy. You can add more or less sugar depending on how you'd like the consistency and sweetness to be.

Frost and decorate the cake as wanted!

-Irene

Carrot Cake

My Dad came to visit last weekend and his favorite thing is carrot cake. I decided to bake him one. I used the recipe from one of my favorite blogs: Lovin' from the oven. The cake came out really moist and delicious. It was also ridiculously easy. The hardest part was shredding the carrots. I would definitely make this recipe again.








Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups shredded carrot
1 cup chopped walnuts
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
I added 1 cup of raisins, I suggest that if you like raisins

For the Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
few drops of water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all the cake ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Grease and flour a pan, and pour in the batter. Bake for about 45 minutes, maybe a little more or less depending on the pan size you use (I made a bundt and it took about 55 minutes).

While the cake is baking, make the frosting by beating all the ingredients together until smooth. Wait for the cake to cool, then frost and enjoy!

-Irene

Fruit Tart with White Chocolate Filling

Elye and I have been talking about making a fruit tart for a while. We altered the recipe from Paula Deen and it came out pretty awesome!

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and sliced

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup white chocolate chips melted

Topping:

Fresh strawberries, kiwi slices, blueberries, raspberries, canned mandarin oranges

Glaze:

1/2 (6-ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

First, for the crust, combine flour, butter, and sugar and beat until it forms a doughy ball. Then, press this down on a 12 inch spring form pan. Bake for about fifteen minutes, or until it is very lightly browned. Let it cool!

Then, for the filling:
Beat cream cheese, white choc (melted), sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Once the crust is cool, spread the filling on top of it.

Decorate with the cut up fruit of your choice.

For the glaze:
Combine the limeade, cornstarch, and sugar a saucepan and cook it over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until thickened. Glaze the entire tart with a pastry brush (don't be shy here!)

Keep the tart in the refrigerate until about ten minutes before you want to eat it.

(I apologize the pictures for this one have pretty bad lighting)

-Irene