I finally (ok only my second real try, first with a proper sized rolling pin) make a cake without fondant so wrinkled it looks like a broomstick skirt, and what happens? The camera decides to go all wonky on me, and I didn’t notice until later, when I was upstairs eating a slice of cake. Daaangit! Sooo there are a bunch of horribly colored photos coming up, as I try to salvage the pictures that I can. Le sigh.

I still have ~3 1/2 of these left…

A few weeks ago I ordered cereal marshmallows. The guy that sells them has tons of videos of himself adding the marshmallows to cereals and describing how much better the cereal is now. I sort of love the videos. (And the man?) Lauren had ordered some when she lived here, but I didn’t cook with them then – just ate them by the handful. She ate them on cereal, which I assume made breakfast that much better! This time I wanted to put them in a light fluffy cake but, not having a proper angel food cake pan, turned to The Cake Bible and picked the one that looked next fluffiest.

As it turned out, the marshmallows sort of disappeared, texture-wise, into the cake. I wasn’t horribly upset as it’s still a really delicious cake, and I have a ton more marshmallows to experiment with. This cake is good enough, and easy enough to make, I probably will make it most of the time in the future when in the past I would have just cheated with boxed cake mix.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (roughly 4 1/2 large) egg whites
• 1 cup milk
• 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup cereal marshmallows (optional)

Again, because of the camera debacle, very few pictures. Sorry!

Grease two 9″ cake pans, line the with parchment, grease again, and flour. If you have cake strips, put them in water to soak. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk, and vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except marshmallows) and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. (I just stirred thoroughly, as I didn’t want dried goods EVERYWHERE.) Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened and then increase to medium (high on a hand mixer) and beat for a minute and a half. Scrape down the sides. Add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides again. If you’re adding the cereal marshmallows, gently fold them in now with as little stirring as possible to avoid the colors running.

Scrape the batter into the cake pans and smooth the surface. Put on your cake strips if you’ve got ’em. Bake 25-35 minutes. I rotated my cakes at 15 (my oven’s pretty uneven), and then set the timer for another 15. I thought they looked like they might need another minute or two, but a toothpick in the center came out clean, so I took them out, and they weren’t underdone at all. Let the cakes cool in the pan ten minutes, then run a knife or spatula around the edge to loosen the cakes. Turn them out, top-side-up, on a greased wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

The Cake Bible recommends a dusting of powdered sugar, any buttercream except chocolate, or fondant. I made a vanilla buttercream and then coated with fondant, as I want practice with fondant, but I think this cake would be great with either a raspberry or lemon buttercream in the future. Something sort of light and fresh…

Finally used my cake decorating stand! Way better than spinning the cutting board your cake is on…

Excuse the scribbles on top, I was trying to see what different piping tips do. Make a mess, seems to be the general conclusion.

For the buttercream, beat 4 cups powdered sugar, 2 sticks softened unsalted butter, 6 tablespoons milk, and 4 teaspoons vanilla together until smooth.

I used the same marshmallow fondant recipe as before, but made half as much. It came together a lot easier for me this time, and then the fact that I have a much longer rolling pin meant I was able to transfer the fondant to the cake without folding it. Improvements!

White Velvet Butter Cake

Adapted from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

• 1/2 cup (roughly 4 1/2 large) egg whites
• 1 cup milk
• 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup cereal marshmallows (optional)

Grease 2 9″ cake pans, line with parchment, then regrease and flour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk, and vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except marshmallows) and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened and then increase to medium (high on a hand mixer) and beat for a minute and a half. Scrape down the sides. Add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides again. If you’re adding the cereal marshmallows, gently fold them in now with as little stirring as possible to avoid the colors running.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool ten minutes in the pans, loosen the edges of the cake with a knife or spatula, then turn out onto a greased wire rack to cool completely.