Yesterday Dylan and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. Its crazy that that much time has passed but then again it feels like we've been together forever. I'm so thankful for everyone who was a part of that day and who has been a part of our lives for the last 5 years. We've been blessed with family and friends that have been great examples of what marriage is supposed to be.
Well, we weren't able to celebrate the way we wanted on the day of our anniversary so we just went out to dinner and I made a cake. I was wanting to get a cake from the same bakery that made our wedding cake, but they just happened to be out of town the last week. So, I just made it myself. Our wedding cake was an Amaretto Raspberry Swirl cake with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting. If you are in St. Pete and want to try the real thing, check out Cakes By Carolynn. I couldn't find an exact recipe for this, so I just pieced together different recipes. Take a look at how it turned out (I took all the pictures with my phone so they aren't great).
The raspberry filling. It turned out delicious and I think it's my favorite part of the cake.
I used 6 inch pans and attempted to swirl the raspberry filling. Apparently I put too much batter in the pans and not enough raspberry for the swirls, so the tops bubbled over and I had to cut off all the pretty swirls. Next time I won't use so much batter for the cake and will mix some of the batter with the raspberry filling and dollop more of it onto the cake.
The finished product after we'd eaten a couple of slices. Notice the thick layers and the lack of swirls.
Served with some frozen yogurt it was the perfect dessert. I would suggest this cake to anyone who is wanting to make a cake for a wedding or a bridal shower. It would even make awesome cupcakes!
Raspberry Filling
12 oz frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch
1. Thaw raspberries and strain juice from berries. Add enough water to the juice to get 3/4 cup of liquid
2. In a small saucepan, combine raspberry juice/water, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens. Remove from heat, set aside.
3.With a fine wire strainer, use a spoon to press the raspberries so that the seedless pulp falls into a bowl below. Strain enough pulp to get between 1/3 - 1/2 cup of pulp. *You can skip this step and just use the whole berries if you don't mind seeds
Amaretto Cake
1 cup slivered almonds
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup amaretto liqueur
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg white
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom and sides of two round cake pans, lightly flour.
2. Put almonds in food processor or blender and grind until finely ground.
3. In large bowl, beat cake mix, almonds, water, 1/2 cup liqueur, the oil and egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans.
4. Bake and cool as directed on box for 8- or 9-inch pans.
Buttercream Frosting (one of the best tasting I've made. I halved it for my cake)
2 cups shortening
8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract (I used pure vanilla cause it's what I had and it tastes better)
6 fluid ounces heavy cream
*Optional: 1 Tablespoon of Amaretto Liquor
1. Cream shortening until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream if necessary (up to 2 ounces). Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.
Raspberry Filling
12 oz frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch
1. Thaw raspberries and strain juice from berries. Add enough water to the juice to get 3/4 cup of liquid
2. In a small saucepan, combine raspberry juice/water, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens. Remove from heat, set aside.
3.With a fine wire strainer, use a spoon to press the raspberries so that the seedless pulp falls into a bowl below. Strain enough pulp to get between 1/3 - 1/2 cup of pulp. *You can skip this step and just use the whole berries if you don't mind seeds
Amaretto Cake
1 cup slivered almonds
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup amaretto liqueur
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg white
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease the bottom and sides of two round cake pans, lightly flour.
2. Put almonds in food processor or blender and grind until finely ground.
3. In large bowl, beat cake mix, almonds, water, 1/2 cup liqueur, the oil and egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans.
4. Bake and cool as directed on box for 8- or 9-inch pans.
Buttercream Frosting (one of the best tasting I've made. I halved it for my cake)
2 cups shortening
8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract (I used pure vanilla cause it's what I had and it tastes better)
6 fluid ounces heavy cream
*Optional: 1 Tablespoon of Amaretto Liquor
1. Cream shortening until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream if necessary (up to 2 ounces). Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.
