Let's Eat Cake!

My love of Jennifer Paganelli is certainly no secret. Her new book is in our High Summer issue. To celebrate the close of summer we are hosting a super simple giveaway for Happy Home! The book has even been autographed by Jennifer. 

Jennifer is a fabric designer who is known for her fun and vibrant fabrics. In Happy Home Jennifer brings together a collection of patterns and projects that will surely create a happy home!

To enter simply leave a comment below answering the following question.

Who is your favorite fashion icon?

Giveaway ends Friday at noon.

I love a pretty cake, but I am horrible at making them. I can make bunts and bars all day long. I, for the life of me, can not ice a cake, or get a layer cake to be pretty. The last one I baked was such a disaster it ended up being thrown at a wall. 

Recently though I decided I was going to create the perfect cake. One that was pretty, easy, and delicious. I knew I wanted one to match Jennifer's book — pretty! So I sat down and created a basic white cake recipe, but it needed to be more than just white. So the idea of food coloring came to mind... but that isn't very FOLK. So I decided on a berry, simply to give it color. The light flavor it adds is just a plus. I had my cake flour ready, I had my berries, my mixer, my recipe, and I began. The cake turned out to be gorgeous. The recipe is below. The cake, like any layer cake, does take time and patience,but is totally worth it. 

You can use any berry you'd like, just depends on the color you'd like.

RECIPE:

4 cups cake flour

2 sticks butter (sliced into table spoons)

9 egg whites

2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 handful of berries

1 1/2 cups milk

Cream butter, sugar, and berries. In a large bowl sift together remaining dry ingredients. In a medium bowl combine wet ingredients. Slowly add equal parts dry and wet mixtures to your creamed mixture.

Bake in 3 well greased 9" rounds for 25-30 min in a 350 degree oven. Allow to fully cool. Trim layers to create stackable cakes. Use the icing recipe below to complete the perfect cake recipe.

ICING:

1 cup Crisco

2 pounds powdered sugar

1/2 - 1 cup milk

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

Cream all ingredients until fluffy and smooth.

ENJOY! -Ben