Zinnia Cake, exclusively Skirt in the Kitchen, celebrating 4 complete years
The Zinnia Cake is an edible floral cake. The petals are finely cut with scissors and put in the batter. When baked in the cake, they are unnoticeable to the naked eye while giving the cake a mild taste. Accompanied with the vodka-flavored vanilla makes this cake truly unique. Dark specks of vanilla bean are present. It’s a Sunday cake. It demands milk, coffee or ice cream with it, after Sunday dinner, of course.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter 2 round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment, then flour the bottoms and sides of pans.
Bring 4 eggs to room temperature. Stir 1 tablespoon vodka-flavored vanilla extract into 1 cup whole milk; bring to room temperature, also. Scrape out 1 whole vanilla bean to include in the milk.
Combine 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Cream 2 sticks (1 cup) softened unsalted butter with 1 1/2 cups sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix in 1 cup of the flour mixture along with one-third of the milk, then the remaining 2 cups dry ingredients. Add all the milk that is left. Batter should be somewhat silky, almost ribbon-like. Mix it a while, on medium speed, to achieve the accurate and consistent blend. Be sure to scrape down the sides when checking for the right texture and smoothness to incorporate all of it. For this cake, it’s important that the batter be very soft. There’s no need for ‘cake flour’ in this, and there’s no need to sift the all-purpose flour more than once as long as machine-mixing is carefully done. There’s no such thing as over-mixing this particular recipe. This is a good first-time baker’s cake. It’s farmhouse-style, leisurely done even though there’s liquor in it and vanilla bean added to the extract.
Trim approximately 5 to 7 petals, pesticide-free zinnias, and mix into the batter. Evenly pour and spread cake batter into pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centers are free from crumbs. Cool 10 minutes on racks, then turn out onto racks and cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, beat 1 stick salted softened butter. Add 6 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup vodka-flavored vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup whole milk. If you do not have vodka vanilla left, you can do this: Put 1 tablespoon regular vanilla extract in the bottom of a 1/4 measuring cup and fill it up with vodka to make a complete 1/4 cup flavored liquid. It’s better with the flavored vanilla, having weeks or months to reach its full flavor.
With a culinary brush, remove any particles from the flowers. Do not wash. Water will cling, get into flower folds, then drip onto the frosting. Clean front and back of flower heads, brushing lightly. Place on the cake right before serving to prevent early wilting.
pretty petals picked
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