Anniversary Cake

Me & Chris

That's me & my honey. Wednesday the 14th will mark our first anniversary :) 

Since both of us have finals this week, we celebrated this weekend. I, naturally, made cake. 

Unfortunately, said cake was devoured so quickly I couldn't get a good picture of it. Yeah, it was THAT GOOD. 

Fortunately, its level of amazingness has made it Chris's official favorite cake. Thus, I will be making it AGAIN when I stop by his campus on my way home Wednesday. 

So, this picture will have to do for now, but a better one will be up soon!

Almond Anniversary Cake
The Cake Itself
Courtesy of Always With Butter
Yield: Two 8 or 9" layers (use 8" if you want to split them)
Ingredients:
Flour- 2 c
Baking powder- 2 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Butter- 3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks), softened
Sugar- 1 1/2 c
Almond extract- 2 tsp (a little extra is okay)
Egg whites- 6
Milk- 3/4 c

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk egg whites and milk together. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. In alternating batches, add flour mix & milk mix to the butter. Beat until combined. Add almond extract and beat to combine.
5. Pour into prepared pans (I always use Baker's Joy), bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Raspberry Cream Filling
Adapted from Always with Butter
Ingredients:
Butter- 1 c (2 sticks), softened
Raspberry preserves- 3/4 c
Powdered sugar- 2 c

Directions:
1. Beat butter and raspberry preserves until combined.
2. Add powdered sugar, and beat until smooth.

Almond Buttercream Frosting
Adapted from Imperrfections
*Note: to make enough for the cake, you should probably double these ingredients (I made half the cake, because it was just for me & Chris). I added the doubled amounts in parentheses.
Ingredients:
Powdered sugar- 2 c (4)
Almond extract- 1 1/4 tsp (2 1/2)
Egg white- 1 (2)
Water- 1/2 tbsp (1)
Butter- 3 tbsp (6), softened

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and beat at low speed to mix. Increase speed to medium and beat for 3-5 minutes until smooooth and fluffy.

ASSEMBLY
After the cake layers are completely cooled, split them using a bread knife or cake leveler. Spread raspberry cream filling in between each layer, and slather on almond buttercream frosting. Be generous! It's soooo good!

Here are a few more pictures of the two of us :)

As the Green & Pink Power Rangers for Halloween

After one of Chris's football games