Whew- I can’t believe this week is finally over! I’ve spent the last two weeks, using every free minute I could find, researching and writing for this past weeks set of informational posts (My Blogging Journey, How to Create a Blog, Blogging Resources and Tips, and All-time Income Report). It probably wouldn’t have taken as long if I could have devoted a regular 8 hour work day to it… but I am a stay-at-home Mom and 8 hours of anything for myself is a long gone dream. You won’t hear me complain about that ever though! I get to stare into my beautiful childrens’ faces all day- even when they are screaming back into mine, it’s still a blessing.
I wanted to end this week with something a little less textbook like and a little more fun! An ordinary recipe post wasn’t going to cut it in my mind. It had to go out in a BANG. There is nothing more exciting and celebratory than a beautiful layer cake! Beautiful being the debated word in this case- I’m quite a second rate cake decorator haha.
But who can resist a layer cake? Unless, of course, you simply don’t like cake or desserts for that matter. I’ve noticed them to be one of the most re-pinned things on Pinterest. And there are all sorts of blogs devoted to just cakes and cake decorating.
Actually ya know what- I think the reign of the cupcake can give the layer cake a run for its money. Cupcakes are the “in” thing right now. Create fancy, custom cupcakes is the cool thing to do now a days. Haven’t you ever seen those reality tv shows solely devoted to cupcakes?? DC Cupcakes, Cupcake Wars…. it just blows my mind.
Seriously? It’s insane. A TV show about cupcakes?
Confession: I just happen to be one of their biggest fans.
Wow, talk about a tangent. Back to this cake! So yes, I decided to do a layer cake because they are exciting. Even more fun than that though? A video! Yup : ) I did my very first video tutorial for today’s post. I can see why people don’t make those more often- they are a lot of work! Between the prep, taping, clean-up, and editing- it was probably a whole two day project. The result was awesome though. Or at least I was happy with it for my first video.
A while back I made some Strawberry Cupcakes and I LOVED the technique used to make them so much that I decided to take the same recipe but turn it into a Blueberry Layer Cake. Fun, right?
You don’t see much in the line of blueberry cake anywhere. It’s always about strawberry. I think that is because most of those recipes are created with a strawberry cake mix and strawberry jell-o. There is no blueberry cake mix or bluebbery jell-o (or is there?). Blueberry cake is pretty much only an option if you want to make a cake from scratch. I’ve actually seen a number of cake recipes that have you fold whole blueberries into the batter like a muffin. Yeah, that works. But I wanted to create a recipe where blueberry was the actual cake flavor.
And then there is the question as to how to frost the cake. Blueberry cream cheese. Oh yeaaaaaaaaaa.
I apologize about the ridiculous number of photos in this post too. Layer cakes are just too pretty to photograph. I had to narrow down my photo choices from like 20 photos that I couldn’t decide between. It was torture. Once I got to 8 photos I just couldn’t go any further. Aside from the grey-ish ting to the cake layers themselves, it is so pretty!
UGH- and sorry about the frost job. Cream cheese frosting is always so soft and hard to work with. Maybe you should try to cut back the cream cheese quantity to 12 ounces (1 1/2 blocks) and keep the confectioners’ sugar the same. That will thicken it up a bit more, not great, but more so than mine was. Plus, the frosting recipe makes for a TON of extra. What to do with it? Make more cake! Haha.
So check out my first video! And while you’re at it, learn how to make a Blueberry Layer Cake hehe
- 1 (12 ounce) bag frozen blueberries
- For the Cupcakes:
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1½ cups sugar
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- ¼ cup blueberry reduction (from frozen blueberries)
- 1 Tb white vinegar
- For the Frosting:
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 5 to 6 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- remaining blueberry reduction
- pinch salt
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans or line a regular 12 cup muffin tin with paper cups.
- Transfer blueberries to bowl, cover, and microwave until blueberries are soft and have released their juice, about 5 minutes.
- Place in fine-mesh strainer set over small saucepan. Firmly press fruit dry; discard blueberry solids.
- Bring juice to boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to ⅓ cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Whisk milk and vinegar into juice until combined; set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to evenly combine. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk mixture (beginning and ending with the flour), beating well after each addition.
- For layer cake, bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. For cupcakes, fill cups ⅔ full and bake 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the Frosting: Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix butter and cream cheese on medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Add 5 cups confectioners’ sugar and mix on low speed until incorporated.
- Increase speed to medium-high and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add reserved blueberry reduction and salt and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Add additional 1 cup confectioners’ sugar to thicken frosting as desired. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 days.
This makes A LOT of frosting. You can dial down the cream cheese amount to 12 ounces (1½ sticks) and keep everything else the same, if desired. This will make less frosting and will also make it a little thicker for decorating purposes.