Vanilla Layer Cake | Anne of Green Gables
The cake did rise, however, and came out of the oven as light and feathery as golden foam. Anne, flushed with delight, clapped it together with layers of ruby jelly, and, in imagination, saw Mrs Allan eating it and possibly asking for another piece!Anne of Green GablesL.M Montgomery
The cake did rise, however, and came out of the oven as light and feathery as golden foam. Anne, flushed with delight, clapped it together with layers of ruby jelly, and, in imagination, saw Mrs Allan eating it and possibly asking for another piece!
Anne of Green Gables
L.M Montgomery
I dived into Anne of Green Gables for the (what I thought) first time recently - I found a very scraggly copy at a local bookstores sale and had the price knocked down to a mere $2 based on the fact that the back few pages had basically been cut off. The further I got into it's pages, the more familiar it seemed and I realised that I had actually read this book before. It must have been when I was quite young, young enough to have no solid memory but enough that small pieces came back to me the further in I read.
Like many children's books, there's an abundance of cosiness and quaintness throughout the pages, bringing forth images of cottages, spring time and, of course, baking. I tried my hand at the cake Anne so desperately wants to impress Mrs Allan with, an attempt that fails when she accidentally replaces the necessary vanilla with medicine instead. This cake is luckily fluffy, delicious and very full of vanilla.
Though don't make my mistake and bake is during a quarantine as you will be forced to either eat it all yourself, or force it onto a roommate or partner.
Vanilla Layer Cake
Ingredients
Cake
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cups milk
620g plain flour
450g raw caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
Frosting
100g vegetable shortening, softened
250g butter, softened
500g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
Jam of your choice
Preheat oven to 180C, and prepare three 8” cake tins - greasing the sides and bottoms well. I recommend putting a circle of baking paper at the bottom as well, it’ll help get them out better.
Combine the vinegar and milk and let it sit to the side to curdle - will take about five minutes or so. If it gets a bit chunky - perfect!
Combine the flour, baking power bi-carb soda, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
Add the oil and vanilla extract to the vinegar and milk and add to the mixed dry ingredients. Mix until everything is combined but make sure not to over-mix.
Divide the batter between the three prepared tins and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes or until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted int he middle comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about ten minutes before removing the cakes from the tins. Turn them out onto a cooling rack and wait till they are completed cooled before frosting. You can pop them in the fridge to rush the process along a little if needed.
While the cakes cooling - prepare the frosting. Combine the shortening and butter in the bowl of a mixer and cream until fluffy.
Add in the vanilla, salt before gradually adding in the icing sugar a little at a time until it has all combined. It should be fluffy and easy to spread.
Sandwich the three cake layers together with a good layer of the jam and frosting between - depending how skilled you are at cake frosting, either decorate the sides of the cake or have it as is! Either way will be delicious, and I guarantee even if this cake isn’t the prettiest at the end, it will still be delicious.
Enjoy!