30 by 30: Swiss Meringue Buttercream....

and my birthday cake!

Happy Birthday to me! Yes, today is my 30th birthday. I can't imagine what the next decade will bring but I definitely hope that it is less drama and trauma than my twenties! Lots of good things happened in my twenties but there were some bad things too and hopefully, I can learn to grow from my mistakes and become the person that God wants me to be.

And now to the fun part--- THE CAKE!

I really wanted a cake to be like this cake. But alas. I have no time in between the new job and coming home and getting dinner and it being summer and hot, hot, hot.

So I cheated and made each layer with a cake mix. Chocolate, yellow, and strawberry cake mixes. I can't help it but I honestly love cake mixes. Follow the directions on the box and dream away. This was also a perfect cake for the June What's Baking? group because our challenge for this month was layer cakes and there is no better layer cake than your own birthday cake!

Yet again, what I wanted and reality didn't happen. I wanted more layers but after realizing that one strawberry layer didn't come out and only one yellow layer , the cake was going to be 3 layers. Which is okay because we had a big meal before the cake.

Since I had SMBC on my 30 by 30 list, I knew it would be the perfect frosting for my version of the neopolitan cake.

SMBC honestly is the easiest frosting to come together just be sure not to overcook your egg white mixture. I was going right along and kept wondering why mine wasn't getting to temperature the first go around and I was reading the celsius side of the thermometer. So needless to say, I cooked the egg whites. I went back and read Martha Stewart's directions and it says to cook the egg white and sugar mixture for approximately 3 minutes and that worked much better for me. Everyone at my birthday party wanted a bowl of this buttercream and a spoon!



Swiss Meringue Buttercream
recipe adapted from this recipe on Annie's Eats
printer friendly version

Ingredients:

• 5 large egg whites

• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar

• Pinch of salt

• 1 lb. (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 2 tablespoon segments

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and salt in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture reaches 150 degrees and the sugar is dissolved.

Move the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature. The mixture will have a glossy stiff sheen to it and should be a pretty white color.

Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated. The frosting will look thin and curdled and almost like cottage cheese but continue to beat on medium-high speed until thick and smooth again, about 5 minutes more. Stir in the vanilla extract and mix just until incorporated.
After I put the cake together, I put the frosted cake in the fridge and the frosting came together much better when it was cold.