I have a cake to share with you!!  A simple celebration cake white chocolate buttercream frosting duo!

But it’s pink you say?!  True….I’ll explain later.

 

I had a girl’s weekend with Sherri and Shawn, two of my longtime best friends, and I made this delicious Celebration Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!

 

Our friendships go WAAAY back. Shawn and I were just little girls (4 years old!) when we started to pal around.

Sherri went to a different elementary school, so we didn’t get to know each other until middle school, and we all went to the same high school.

We didn’t become the three “S’s” until our college years. Oh, we have lots of stories to share, weddings, babies, heartbreaks, but I think those should be reserved for a book!

 

 

We take girly-girl weekends without our families every few years or so. With our busy schedules, it’s hard to sneak away more often than that!

We did something a little different this time, we had a slumber party at my house! I live in a touristy area (Monterey, CA), and our weather has been gorgeous!

The things we wanted to do are within a 5 mile radius of my house; wine tasting, spa treatments, walking along the beach, decent dining, plus CAKE! I was able to make a birthday cake!

Sherri is the first of us to turn fifty years old! I think the more I say the five-zero combination, I’ll become more comfortable with the fact that we are reaching our freakin’ golden years – yeah, solid gold  🙂

 

 

When everyone tasted this cake they were perplexed, guessing the flavor. Is it cherry or strawberry?

It’s neither!

See those cool plates I served the cake on? I picked them up from an antique consignment shop, and I wanted my cake to match my pretty plates (heehee- laugh with an eye roll, I don’t mind).

I started to add some pomegranate juice to the batter, but the color was way off. I didn’t have time to play with the coloring, so I corrected it with a no-fail method, food coloring!

Dusty rose is 12 drops of red with 4 drops of blue, and the perfect match to my cute plates. The flavor everyone tasted was almond extract, but the rose colored cake threw everyone off!

 

 

The white chocolate butter cream frosting is finger licking good as well and super easy to make.

Keep the cake simple with a few sprinkles like I did, or get fancy with the decorating tips. I think this would be a beautiful cake decorated with baby rose buds for a bridal or baby shower. How about a special cake for Valentine’s Day? Some bubbly adds a nice touch too 🙂

 

 

Photo taken of the three S’s at my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary party a few years back. I think everyone is happy with this picture 😉 Birthday girl is wearing black 🙂

Yield: 12

Celebration Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

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Ingredients

• 3 cups self rising flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 cup milk, room temperature
• Food coloring (OPTIONAL), 12 drops red, 4 drops of blue for dusty rose color

For Frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 6 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled
• 3-5 tablespoons whipping cream or milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 9" round cake pans with parchment paper and spray paper and pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until it is soft (1-2 minutes) with an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar beating until fluffy (up to 5 minutes).

Add the eggs one at a time, blending until each one is well incorporated into the butter/sugar mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the almond extract.

On low speed, add the flour and milk alternatively. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes or when a toothpick placed in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cake cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Invert onto cooling rack, remove parchment paper and let completely cool before frosting.

For White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar on low speed. Add cooled melted white chocolate. Add whipping cream one tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistency you prefer. Beat on high for 3-4 minutes, scrapping the frosting down from the bowl as needed.

Frost cake and enjoy.

Notes

The batter is enough for two 9" round pans as the recipe indicates. I used an 8" x 3" pan and had enough batter for 6 cupcakes. Using a 8" pan took longer to cook. I kept checking it every 3-5 minutes at 30 minutes, and I ended up overcooking it by about 5 minutes. It was still delicious, but next time I will stick with the two 9" pans.
If you plan on getting fancy with the frosting, make more. This recipe makes about 3 1/2 cups. plenty for frosting the cake, but you'll want more to pipe roses or borders.

Frosting is from Food.com.

Have you tried making edible flower decorations? This is the perfect cake to try these Pretty Primroses and Crystallized Decorations from Vohn’s Vittles.