Gotta stack'em all!

Sorry for the lame Pokemon pun in the title....I'll try not to let it happen again :(

My biggest fear when I started out baking was being unable to make a tall, straight, even cake.
I tackled that fear this weekend and am ecstatic with the results.

Lo and behold...my yellow cake (actually pink) with coffee buttercream!!!

I initially wanted to make a coffee chocolate cake with coffee buttercream but my mom requested I make 'normal' cake -_- They aren't big fans of different cake flavours.

I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make coffee buttercream though. I found a good yellow cake recipe here. Since I didn't have self-rising flour, I substituted by using 3 cups of all purpose flour and added 4 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Next time, I'd like to try using self-rising flour. I also added a little too much vanilla extract so I will definitely be adding a little less next time. I also added pink food colouring to the cake batter....just for funsies :)

I used unsalted cultured butter since I had it on hand and didn't have enough regular butter. I can't say how this compares to the regular one except that it's supposed to make the cake richer. I will have to make this cake again with regular butter to really tell. NTS; do another post on cultured vs regular butter.

For the buttercream, I used;

1 cup and 1 heaping tablespoon of cultured butter
1 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
A splash of water

I know a splash isn't really a measurement but you need very little....about a teaspoon I think. Add the water to the coffee powder and mix to form a liquidy (I really need to brush up on my adjectives) paste.
Beat together the butter and icing sugar until fluffy and combined. Add in the coffee paste and mix some more. This buttercream was AMAZING! And I don't even like buttercream. It isn't that sweet so it balanced out the sweetness of the cake. I think the buttercream would taste even better on a mocha or chocolate cake.

On to the stacking! As this is the first time I've done this 'properly' I'm not really an expert. I chose to freeze my cakes wrapped in saran wrap. I then let them thaw a little before torting them. They stacked beautifully. I didn't make enough buttercream to do a crumb coat and then a icing coat so I just wang it...winged it...whatever!

I'm excited to make a cake which actually has a crumb coat and then a thick coat of smooooooth frosting. Unfortunately, thinking of mixing all that buttercream with my little hand mixer is more than a little daunting.

On a side note, I was SOOOOO disappointed to not win the Raspberry Ice KitchenAide mixer in the giveaway held by Sweetopia (who is btw my inspiration and number 1 site for ogling at pretty cookies and sweets...no seriously go check it out...like right now...GO!) but c'est la vie! Now I have to save up for one...SIGH...although my birthday ISSS coming up *wink wink*

Anyway...overall a successful first attempt. The cake tasted amazing (even my mom said it was 'okay') and the cake came together nicely. It's good days like these that make me eager to take out my pink mixing bowl and start all over!