And today’s the day.
One of those lazy days when all I am looking for is having fun in the kitchen.
No plans.
Let fancies and imagination take wings. And fly.
Some experiments do turn out to be runaway hits. I strut around, beaming with creator’s pride. Jog my memory and scribble the resume before I forget.
Back to my patterns. I need a cake to begin with. That shall be the proud canvass of my designs.
I choose a sheet cake. That buttermilk batter has been fascinating me for a while.
The sheet cake turns out to be perfect. The pattern is a stunner.
And if all this fuss is not enough, just before I serve, I decide to add a cream filling in between two layers of my sheet cake.
So this is it – my layered sheet cake with a pretty pattern adorning it. Who said cakes cannot be beautiful ?
Enjoy !!!!
Layered Sheet Cake
Ingredients
For the sheet cake
- 1.5 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup butter , softened
- 1/2 cup butter milk
- 1/2 cup sugar powdered
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the pattern
- 1 tsp beetroot reduction 1/2 cup beetroot reduced to 3 tbsp over low flame
For the cream filling
- 200 ml fresh cream
- 1/2 cup sugar powdered
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions
For the sheet cake
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
- Sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt, keep aside in a bowl.
- In another bowl beat the eggs, butter and sugar with an electric blender till light and fluffy. Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract to the mixture and whisk.
- Add the dry mixture to the batter, 2 tbsps at a time, fold gently to mix. Keep aside.
For the pattern
- Take 3 odd tbsp of the batter in a second bowl, add the beetroot reduction and mix well.
- Take an A4 paper and and draw any pattern of your choice on one half of the paper. The other half should be blank. Place this paper onto a baking tray (9 in × 13 in jellyroll pan) and cover with a greased parchment paper. (You should be able to see the pattern you have drawn through the parchment paper.)
- Remove the baking tray from the refrigerator and gently remove the A4 paper from the tray.
For the cream filling
- Take fresh cream, sugar powder and vanilla extract in a bowl, whip gently till it forms soft peaks. Refrigerate for further use.
Baking the Sheet Cake
- Very gently pour the rest of the batter onto the parchment paper, taking care to not disturb the pattern.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Dust a sheet of parchment paper with castor sugar, place on the work surface. Turn the sheet cake onto the paper, remove the parchment paper, trim the edges with a sharp knife.
- You now have the sheet cake, half of whose surface is adorned by the pretty pattern you designed.
Layering the sheet cakes
- Cut the sheet cake into half - one half shall have the complete pattern, the other half unadorned.
- Spread the cream filling even over the unadorned half. Top it carefully with the other half that is proudly embellished with your pattern. The beautiful pattern facing you in joy !!
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