Guild Wars 2: White Cake

With the all the holidays in full swing for the past few weeks many of my friends have been too distracted with celebrations, merriment, and general vacation laziness to play Guild Wars 2. That means my attempts on the Vale Guardian since my last post have been at zero. Instead, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my dear old friend the Mossman. I can’t wait for more people to be on so I can make some progression on my personal fractal level. While people have been out I decided to start working on Twilight. Last week I finished up the first collection quest for Dusk. It wasn’t too bad, but then the crafting of mithril began. Luckily for me, I already had piles of it stashed away. I am currently still working on the second collection – Deldimor Steel is holding me back right now. I’m in no rush, Twilight is a very long term project. Hopefully no new greatsword legendaries come out soon

Well what do you know, it is my birthday today. I am feeling like I need some cake in my life. Why not a delicious white cake with some raspberry filling, vanilla whipped frosting and a berry compote? Sounds complicated! Well, it does take a bit of work but the end result is delicious. One of the most important steps to this cake is to make it the day before you plan on serving it. Take your time with each of the pieces as you are working on this cake because each element needs to rest overnight in the refrigerator to solidify a bit. Enough chit chat about the recipe, let’s get working on it!

Required Equipment: two cake pans, stand mixer (or hand mixer and a bowl), bowls, saucepan
Results: 1 two-layered cake
Ingredients:
Cake
2 ½ cup cake flour, sifted
1 cup milk, room temp
6 large egg whites, room temp
1 tsp almond extract
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 ⅔ cups sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed – softened

Filling
10 oz frozen raspberry
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp sugar

Strawberry and Raspberry Compote
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 cup raspberries, cut in half
2 tbsp orange juice
¼ tsp cinnamon

Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 ½ cups heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ vanilla bean, split

Preheat the oven to 350℉. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter cubes into the bowl and mix until combined.

In a small bowl combine the milk, egg whites, almond extract and vanilla.

Add half of the wet mixture to the flour and mix for about 2 minutes. You want to really make sure the butter, liquids and flour mix well. Add the remaining wet mixture and mix until very well combined (make sure there are no chunks).

Pour the batter into two equal sized tins. I used two nine inch square cake pans. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until the cake passes the toothpick test. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Carefully flip the cakes out of the pans and allow them to fully cool.

While the cake is cooling, it’s time to make the filling. Take the thawed raspberries and place them in a blender. Blend well! You might need to add a bit of water to get the blender moving. If you want a smooth filling, pass the blended raspberries through a mesh strainer.

Place the blended raspberries, cornstarch and sugar into a saucepan. Heat up over medium-high heat and mix together. Heat up until the filling begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Allow the mixture to cool and then place in the refrigerator.

Next the compote. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat and mix together well. Allow it to start bubbling and then mash the fruit. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10-12 minutes or until it has slightly thickened. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

Our final piece of the puzzle is the frosting. In a bowl, combine the heavy cream and vanilla bean. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the cream cheese and sugar until it has become smooth. Pour in the heavy cream and mix until it has reached stiff peaks. Place in a bowl and refrigerate overnight.

The last step to do the day before (if your filling has completely cooled and rested in the fridge for at least two hours) is to assemble your layers. Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate. Spread the filling on top but leave a half inch border around the edge in order to prevent it from spilling over. Add the other layer on top. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

When you are ready to serve cut each piece, add a dollup of the whipped cream and some compote.

Side note: If you would like to serve the cake the same day as you bake it I would recommend not double layering it. The filling will not have set and the two layers will just separate. I would also recommend making the filling, compote and frosting before baking the cake.