Happy birthday to me
Here's a fun thing that happened to me a few days before my birthday: I got to talk about my book in the New York Times. !!!! Indeed. I found out that I would be talking to a reporter from the New York Times less than two hours before the call, and I'm sure I did something in those two hours but I have no idea what now. But the one thing I did do is that right before the call was scheduled, I put on lipstick. Could she see me? Nope. Did it make me feel together, sit up straighter, think better? Absolutely. This was the lipstick I put on (in My Icon Is___), and look, I would be lying to you guys if I said I bought it for a reason other than how cool it looks, but the color is also a great red, so win/win.
And speaking of the piece in the New York Times: I've read books by all of the other authors interviewed and have loved them all and you should all spend the weekend reading their books. One of the things that I told the reporter was that Courtney Milan's books were one of the things that got me into reading romance in the first place. Her heroines are smart, interesting, complicated women, and she manages to write heroes who deserve them. The Duchess Deal was the first book of hers that I read, and I distinctly remember finishing it, immediately purchasing the next book and starting to read it two minutes later.
What other recipe would I give you on my birthday but the best kind of birthday cake: yellow cake with chocolate frosting? I've tried many many recipes, and this is the one I've liked the best so far; I made it for my mom last year for her birthday and she approved (and she's very picky about cake). But instead of chocolate buttercream, I use the frosting from my favorite chocolate cake, which I wrote about in an earlier tinyletter, here's the link to that one, for all of you who weren't around then! One note about this cake: you absolutely have to use cake flour and not all purpose!
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, separated, room temp
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, well shaken, room temp
Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans; or use the good kind of cooking spray that has flour in it, which makes this far easier. Cream together butter and sugar (in your stand mixer if you have one, with a hand mixer if you don't, mostly because it's easier). Add egg whites and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. In yet another bowl (yes, this recipe gets your kitchen very messy, I'm sorry about that, but it's birthday cake!) and with very clean beaters, beat the egg whites until they're stiff and when you pull the beater out of the whites, they hold a peak. Fold the egg whites into the batter until everything is just incorporated. Pour the batter evenly into your prepared pans and bake in the center of the oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched. Let cool for about ten minutes, then invert the cake onto cake racks to let cool. Frost when cool.
Chocolate Frosting
1 pound semi sweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick unsalted butter
Finely chop chocolate. In a saucepan, bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth. Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool in the fridge, stirring every thirty minutes or so, until thickened and spreadable.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Jasmine
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