Berry Layer Magic Cake Food

BERRY LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 10-inch round cake pans; line with parchment. Butter parchment, then dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla seeds. In a separate bowl, toss together blueberries and cornstarch.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until well combined. Continue beating while gradually adding butter until mixture is crumbly, about 3 minutes.
• Slowly add half of milk mixture; increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add remaining half of milk mixture, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat until incorporated, about 1 minute more. Remove bowl from mixer; fold in blueberries.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, spreading to edges with a small offset spatula. Tap pans on counter to release any air bubbles. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean and tops are lightly golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cool completely. Turn cakes out of pans and remove parchment.
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 6 egg whites, and a pinch of salt in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over (not in) a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch and feels completely smooth when rubbed between fingertips, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; whisk on low speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium-high until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture has cooled completely, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; add 4 sticks butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking until fully incorporated after each addition. (Don't worry if buttercream appears curdled after all of butter has been added; it will become smooth again with beating.) Whisk in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
• Switch to paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until air bubbles are eliminated, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic, and let stand at room temperature. Repeat process twice more with remaining ingredients, using the same amounts each time, then combining all three batches of buttercream in the large bowl and covering with plastic. Remove 2 cups buttercream; set aside.
• Fold jam into large bowl of buttercream. Add burgundy food color, a drop at a time, until desired color is reached.
• Assembly:Place a cake layer, bottom-side down, on a cake stand or serving platter. Spread about 1 1/2 cups buttercream over it; top with a second cake layer, bottom-side down, and another 1 1/2 cups buttercream. Finish with a third cake layer, bottom-side up. Evenly spread top and sides of cake with a 1/2-inch thickness of buttercream, smoothing with an offset spatula.
• Divide remaining buttercream among three bowls, then lighten each with some of the reserved 2 cups white buttercream, creating different shades. Transfer to pastry bags fitted with open and closed star tips in a variety of sizes. Pipe swirls and rosettes of buttercream on top of cake. Frosted cake can be refrigerated overnight; bring to room temperature and top with berries before serving.

BLACK MAGIC CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment and grease the parchment and the sides of the pans with oil.
• Stir together the cocoa powder and boiling water in a small bowl and let sit to bloom for 5 minutes (this step intensifies the chocolate flavor in the cake).
• Whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the bloomed cocoa, oil, milk, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl. Pour the cocoa mixture into the sugar mixture and stir until smooth (the batter will be thin). Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake until the cakes bounce back when pressed in the middle and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in the pans on a rack.
• For the filling and frosting: Heat the cream in a double boiler over low heat, whisking occasionally, until it begins to steam. Whisk in the cocoa powder, chocolate, espresso powder, vanilla and salt until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the butter until melted. Whisk in the confectioners' sugar until incorporated. Let the frosting cool completely.
• To assemble: Put 1 cake, bottom-side up, on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread about 1 cup of the frosting over the top but not all the way down the side. Top with the other cake, bottom-side up, and frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
• For the spider web or mummy decoration: Microwave the marshmallows in a microwave-safe medium bowl until they swell and are soft enough to stir, about 1 minute. Let sit a few minutes until cool enough to touch. Spray your hands with cooking spray. For a spider web, pick up a tablespoon-sized blob of the melted marshmallow and stretch it over and around the cake; repeat so that the strings of marshmallow crisscross one another in many directions, and continue until you have what looks like a spider web. For a mummy, stretch the marshmallow so that all the strings on the top of the cake run in the same direction, leaving a small gap between strings for the mummy's eyes to peek out. Garnish with a candy spider or several candy spiders for the web cake or candy eyes for the mummy cake.

VERY BERRY VANILLA LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Vanilla Cake
• Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray.
• In a large mixing bowl, add flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix by hand or with hand mixer until well combined. Then set aside.
• In a separate medium mixing bowl, add milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix well, then add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl. Mix until well combined.
• Gradually add the water to the batter and mix slowly or on low speed until well combined.
• Evenly divide the batter among the 3 prepared cake pans.
• Add 2/3 cup fresh blueberries to each of the 3 prepared cake pans. Gently press into batter.
• Bake for 26 to 30 min. or until cakes pass the toothpick test.
• Let cakes cool for 10 to 15 min., then remove from cake pan to cooling rack to completely cool. Note that the blueberries are dense and will likely sink to the bottoms of the cake pans during bake time and that is okay.
• Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting
• In a blender or food processor, purée the blackberries.
• Using a strainer, separate the blackberry purée and seeds. Throw out the seeds, then set purée aside.
• In a stand mixer, mix butter and PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese until well combined.
• With mixer on low, add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and adding the vanilla after half of the powdered sugar has been added.
• Add blackberry purée and mix until well combined. (The frosting will go from a white color to a light purple color.)
• Assembly
• Place the first cake round on a cake stand, serving plate or cardboard cake round.
• Spread a thin layer of Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting over the top of the first cake round. (I use an angled icing spatula, but a silicone spatula or spreading knife will work as well.)
• Repeat process with second and third cake rounds until all three cake rounds are stacked and frosted. (Note: The top layer should be a moderate layer of icing where the bottom layers should be thin.)
• With the remaining frosting, spread frosting around the outside of the cake using a cake scraper, spreading knife or silicone spatula. To achieve the "naked cake" look, scrape icing from the cake layers until visible through the frosting. The goal of a naked cake is to allow parts of the cake to show with no exact pattern. All frosting may not be used, depending on how thick you want to layers to be. Any excess frosting can be refrigerated for up to 7 days.
• Cut half of the strawberries into halves. Place halved strawberries, whole strawberries, blueberries, red raspberries and blackberries on top of the cake and around the base of the cake. (There is no exact pattern to placing the berries on or around the cake so place them however you would like.)
• Let cake sit in refrigerator for 45 to 60 min. for frosting to firm.
• Serve and enjoy!

SUMMER BERRY LEMON LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Making the Cake:.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Butter and flour two 9 inch cake pans. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer or by hand until light and fluffy, approx 3 minutes or so. Beat in the vanilla and vinegar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by half of the flour mixture. Add the milk and beat in the remaining flour mixture. Beat in the lemon juice and lemon zest.
• Pour the batter into prepared cake pans.
• Bake until lightly golden and a chopstick inserted into middle of the cake comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Let cake cool on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, make the frosting (for frosting 1). In a large bowl, beat together butter, 6 cups of confectioner's sugar, half 'n' half, lemon juice, and lemon zest with a whisk until incorporated. Continue to beat for 3 minutes, or until frosting begins to get fluffy. At this point, taste the frosting. If desired, add remaining two cups of confectioner's sugar in 1/2 cup increments, tasting for preferred sweetness. Continue to beat frosting until thick and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Set to cool.
• For Frosting 2; In a mixer bowl, whisk the egg whites, cider vinegar, sugar and vanilla until well combined (not until stiff, that will be later). Incorporate the water.
• Fill a saucepan with water about (2-3 cups). The saucepan should be large enough for the mixer bowl to "rest in it" but without touching the bottom of the saucepan.
• When the water is shimmering place the bowl in the sauce pan and whisk the mixture. Be sure to watch that th mixture does not boil. Whisk until all the sugar is dissovled and remove from the saucepan.
• Place the bowl in the kitchen mixer with the whisk attachment on. Whisk the meringue frosting until stiff peaks forms and has a glossy look. This can take up to 12-15 minutes or more. Refrigerate until needed.
• To make the jam; In a food processor (or in my case, ninja blender), puree the raspberries and 4 oz strawberries. In a small saucepan add the berry puree, water, and sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon until it begins to warm slightly (it will bubble slightly at the sides) and whisk in cornstarch. Cook until the jam thickens and pour into a bowl to cool. Refrigerate until needed.
• To assemble the cake: Place first layer of cake on a stand or plate. cover evenly with jam and top with sliced strawberries (top with even amount of frosting if using). Place second layer of cake on top of first. Frost the top (with one of the frostings) and sides evenly with remaining frosting. Decorate the top of the frosted cake with blackberries and strawberries. Refrigerate and store for up to a week.