A perfectly tender white cake with my favorite buttercream. Ermine Icing (also known as “boiled milk icing”) doesn’t taste as sweet or as rich as the other buttercreams, which is why I like it so much.
Helen
Cake:
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 4 tablespoons canola oil or refined coconut oil, melted
- 1 cup milk
- 5 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Ermine Icing:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
Cake: Grease and line three 8″ or two 9″ cake pans with parchment. Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a mixing bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter and mix on low speed for 10 minutes, until the mixture looks like cornmeal. Add the coconut oil and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, until smooth. Add egg whites, milk, vanilla and almond and mix on low until well-combined.
Mix by hand to make sure the batter is uniform and divide evenly among prepared cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes for 8″ cakes, or 30-35 minutes for 9″ cakes, until just starting to brown and springs back in the center. Do not over-bake.
Icing: Whisk flour and milk together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it becomes thick like pudding. Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla and salt. Make sure there are no lumps – if in doubt, press through a sieve. Pour into a bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface so it doesn’t form a skin. Cool to room temperature.
Beat butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl when necessary. With mixer running, add cooled flour mixture, a little at a time. Continue to beat until light and fluffy.
Spencer Family Cookbook 