Here's the abbreviated story. I like baking. I've learned baking from scratch is just as easy as box cakes, REALLY! You already have the ingredients in your home. A few tips: Always scoop your flour with a spoon into a measuring cup, don't compact it, this way your baking will be lighter and fluffier and not too heavy. Don't over mix the flour into the batter, this way it will stay light and fluffy. Little pieces of butter won't hurt the outcome and will actually make things more moist. You can experiment with most recipes as long as you stick to the flour:egg ratio. Vegan? Eggs can be substituted with applesauce. You can make your own buttermilk by mixing milk with vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit 15-30 mins. And making gluten free flour is actually pretty easy, if you visit Winco's bulk section for a few ingredients. Now you know everything I know.
As for the story behind this recipe. It was my husband's birthday. I've made St. Patty's Day Guinness cupcakes before, and Blue Moon cup cakes before and I wanted to try IPA in a cake with complimenting flavors to bring out the IPA flavor. Apparently it's not much of a thing, so I experimented with what I thought would taste good and it was awesome! In the ten years I've been baking for my husband, he has never eaten something so fast and with such enthusiasm.
So here's the recipe!
Spiced IPA cake
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned into measuring cups)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
Finely grated zest of a large lemon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (12 tablespoons) (tip: omit the salt in recipe if you have salted butter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup IPA of your choosing
Preheat oven to 350 f. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and spice into mixing bowl and whisk together.
In a separate bowl, mix butter, lemon zest and sugar until creamy. Mix in vanilla and almond extracts, and each egg (one at a time) until combined. Mix in about half of the dry ingredients into bowl, just until combined, and then half of the IPA. Trade off adding the dry ingredients and IPA until it's all mixed together. Remember, don't over mix. A minute or less is plenty.Separate the batter evenly into the cake pan(s) of your choosing, about 2/3rd full, but no more, so it doesn't over flow when baking. I used two eight inch round pans and cooked them at 350 degrees for 35 mins. Cupcakes will take about 14-18 mins. Deeper cakes will take about 45 mins. To check if the cake is done, gently press the middle of your cake with your finger, if it pops back up, it is ready.
Another insider tip: You can get a nice flat cake if you make a band of wet paper towel surrounded by foil and wrap it around the base of the pan. Here's the YouTube video that saved my cakes!
Spiced peach butter cream frosting
1 stick (1/2 cup unsalted butter)
3-4 cups sifted confectioners sugar (confectioner sugar is powdered sugar with cornstarch added for stability, you can add it to regular powdered sugar or just omit it, either way it's not the end of the world)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons peach juice (got mine from one of those kid fruit cups)
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of sea salt to taste
Cream butter and sifted confectioner sugar, add the rest of the ingredients and mix until mixer creates peaks (a few minutes). If your frosting is too runny, add more sugar a few tablespoons at a time. If it is too dry, add a bit more juice. If it is too sweet you can add a bit of apple cider vinegar to lessen the sweetness.
I wanted a simple "naked" cake, but you can certainly double the butter in the recipe for a thicker frosting. Also, feel free to curtail the spices and juice flavor to your liking.
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