Yield: 32 cakes
Ingredients
Basic Vanilla Cake Batter (see recipe below)
¾ cup apricot spreadable Fruit
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (see recipe below)
1 to 2 drops red food coloring
1 to 2 drops yellow food coloring
Basic Vanilla Cake Batter
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
Preparation
1. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at medium-low speed just until blended after each addition. (Batter will be thick.) Use immediately.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Makes about 2 ¾ cups | Prep:10 min
(double this recipe if you prefer lots of icing)
½ cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar
3 to 5 tbsp. milk
Preparation
1. Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with 3 tbsp milk, 1 tbsp at a time, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Beat in up to 2 tbsp. additional milk for desired consistency.
Vanilla Petits Fours Preparation
1. Prepare Basic Vanilla Cake Batter as directed.
2. Pour batter into 2 lightly greased parchment paper-lined 15x10-inch jelly-roll pans.
3. Bake and cool as directed in “Pick a Pan”, below. Do not remove cakes from pans.
4. Spread top of 1 cooled cake (in pan) with spreadable fruit. Invert remaining cake onto fruit-covered cake. Remove top pan. Remove and discard top piece of parchment paper. Cover and freeze cake 1 to 2 hours.
5. Run an offset spatula under and around sides of cake to release from pan. Invert cake onto a cutting board. Remove and discard remaining piece of parchment paper. Trim and discard edges of cake. Cut cake into 32 squares.
6. Tint vanilla Buttercream frosting with desired amount of food coloring, and beat until blended. Place in a zip-top plastic freezer bag (do not seal). Snip 1 corner of bag to make a small hole. Pipe frosting onto each cake square. Garnish, if desired.
**Seedless jam may be substituted.
Pick a pan:
· Bake at 350 in 2 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans 32-36 minutes. Cool as directed.
· Bake at 350 in 2 greased and floured 8-inch square pans 32-34 minutes. Cool as directed.
· Bake at 350 in 2 lightly greased parchment paper-lined 15x10-inch jelly-roll pans 15 to 17 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 30 minutes.