Cake - The Cake Merchant

One Bowl Vanilla Cake with Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

08.15.13

Keep it simple. It’s a wonderful life lesson that can also be applied to baking. Although cakes that take hours to prepare and lots of dishes to create can be worth the time and effort, there’s no point to them if they never get made. The “one day I’ll have the time to try that recipe” cakes have their place, but I guarantee that this one will get made again and again. And nobody will know that it’s a dump and stir recipe. It’s just as easy as a cake mix, but without all the chemicals.

This recipe comes from Piece of Cake, a book devoted entirely to one-bowl recipes. The only change I made was to pair it down from the original 9-inch variety to a 7-inch layer cake. For me, 7-inch cakes are the perfect size, since they don’t look diminutive, but aren’t too overwhelming for a small gathering. Plus, I just don’t get enough use out of my 7-inch pans.

The vanilla cake recipes on this blog are piling up, mostly due to my slight obsession to find the perfect one. If you’ve never made a cake from scratch before, this is a great recipe to begin with. It’s almost foolproof, and frosting is also really quick and easy. Neither the cake nor the frosting require a stand mixer.

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Yellow Birthday (or other celebration) Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

05.08.13

Hi friends! It’s been too long since I’ve been able to post here. I have lots to share with you, including a recipe as well as a few “real life” things. The biggest thing that has kept me away from the blog has been a move- into a house! Yes, I bought a house! I can’t actually find a lot of my baking equipment, my internet is having all kinds of problems, but I have a house!

Also, I got engaged! This was probably the most unexpected, because I have the sneakiest fiancé on the planet, and I had no clue. Aaron and I met almost four years ago while we were both training for a 5k. Over the years, we have done several 5ks, some 10ks, and a few half marathons. Running has been a big part of our lives, so it was really fitting when Aaron proposed to me while I was running with a friend at White Rock Lake in Dallas. I thought it was just an ordinary Sunday morning run, so imagine my surprise when I saw Aaron waiting there for me a mile into the run, with flowers and a ring!

As last but not least, we have a new addition to the family. No, no babies. But we did adopt a dog. His name is Bigsby, and he is the sweetest pup on the planet! I’ve wanted a dog ever since I was a little kid. It only took 31 years, but it finally happened. Welcome to the family, Bigsby!

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Little Chocolate Layer Cake with Nutella Buttercream Frosting

04.17.13

Today, I’m excited to be joining some of my favorite food bloggers to throw a virtual housewarming party for fellow food blogger Ashton. Ashton is the blogger behind Something Swanky, and while I follow her blog regularly, I’ve never met her in person. However, I know that Ashton and I share a love for Nutella, so I wanted to “bring” a chocolate layer cake with Nutella frosting.

I wanted an intense chocolate cake to go along with the light and creamy Nutella frosting, so I chose David Lebovitz’s Devil’s Food Cake recipe. The original recipe makes a double layer 9-inch cake, but I halved to it to make a little 5-inch cake.

I also split each layer in half to make a 4-layer cake so that I could have a higher frosting to cake ratio. Let’s face it, more frosting is always better, especially if that frosting tastes like Nutella.

A 5-inch cake makes baby slices, but really, I have no shame in diving right into a cake this size with a fork. Or face first. Who can find utensils when you’re moving, anyway?

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