Dorie's Perfectly Patriotic Party Cake

So it's a few days late, but I did it! Dorie's Perfect Party Cake, all dressed up for the 4th of July. I was intimidated by this recipe when I first bought the Baking book, but after spending some time with TWD and learning lots of new techniques, I thought I could make this work. I followed the recipe exactly (with the exception of the coconut topping) knowing that if I was successful with my first attempt, I would play around with future editions of the Perfect Party Cake. And perfect it was! The cake was chosen by Carol from Mix Mix, Stir Stir. She's got a great blog and I love looking at her creative kitchen inventions!

My cake didn't rise exactly as promised, so instead of trying to level 4 miniscule layers, I just left the two original intact and went from there. Other bakers had trouble with their cake rising, too, so I was expecting it to happen. However, the buttercream (Swiss Meringue Buttercream, to be exact) scared me. I had tried to make SMBC before and it ended up as a gross, buttery, lumpy mess. I now know that I didn't beat it enough, and from now on, I need to use the stand-mixer instead of my hand mixer. This time, it came together beautifully - all white, fluffy and smooth. The SMBC is light and silky, with just a hint of tartness from the lemon juice. Some TWD'er thought it was too buttery, but I didn't think so. The only time I noticed the butter was the day after, when the cake had been sitting out all night. It really is best served the day it's made. All light and lemony, with raspberry filling and slightly tart buttercream. So good!

I will definitely make this cake again for special occasions. It's not as complicated as I first thought, but it does take some time to make it really nice. And pretty soon, my cake decorating skills will be up to the challenge! Tonight it my first night of my Wilton Cake Decorating Class!! I'm so excited, and so is Alex because he knows that July will be full of cake. Lucky guy.