White on White Buttermilk Cake

This is one of the easiest cakes to make and works perfectly for any layer cake. I hate cake recipes that I have to separate the eggs, make two separate batters and fold them back together. It makes such a mess and is too time consuming for this mom!

I have made this several times and it turns out great every time. It has a perfect crumb, nice and moist yet dense enough to hold up to plenty of frosting or fondant. It freezes very well too.

White in White Buttermilk Cake

Makes 12-14 Servings

Cake:

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 1/3 cups sugar

3 large egg whites

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups cake flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

To make the cake:

Place one baking rack one-third from the bottom of the oven and the second two-thirds from the bottom. Preheat the oven to 350-f degrees. Line three 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper rounds, grease with butter, and dust with flour (or spray with Pam with Flour).
Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg whites and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the batter and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Add about half of the buttermilk and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Continue adding dry and wet ingredients alternately, scraping the bowl down and beating until incorporated after each addition. End with the dry ingredients. The batter will be thick and glossy.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Stagger the cake layers on the oven racks so that no layer is directly over another. Set two layers on one rack and the third on the other. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean and tops are flat and browned. Monitor the layers carefully for doneness; each one me be done at a different time.

Set the cake pans on racks to cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the racks and cool completely before frosting. At this point the cakes can be tightly wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil and frozen up to 3 weeks.

Recipe from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather