Orange, Vanilla, Blackberries, & Raspberries

I hope everyone had a nice fourth of july. it's gotten really hot the past couple of days, so my friends and I went onto my roof in hopes of seeing the fireworks, but there were too many trees blocking our view, so we decided to go walk down and see them. it was a fun, low-key, little celebration. But to me, what defines a holiday, is that there might be other people at our house who I can make something for. i hadn't made a cake in a while, and with four other teenagers in the house, I knew a substantial amount would get eaten. I used blackberries and raspberries since those are in season right now, and you gotta use them while you can. Our neighbors have raspberry plants, and brought some fresh berries by. They were so fragrant, so i knew they were good. They saved me from having to buy some and I'm sure the quality of the home-grown berries far exceeds the quality of store berries.

I start my art program this week, so baking will be something I can only do in free time here and there. It has school-like hours, so by the time I get home, it's rather late. I'm hoping I can fit smaller projects in [i always find a way].


Orange Buttercake

2 sticks butter
6 oz cream cheese
1 1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
4 eggs
1 cup AP flour
2/3 cup self-rising flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2- 7" springform pans with parchment.Butter and flour the pan sides and the parchment. Cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until thoroughly combined. Add in orange zest and eggs. Sift the flours together and add them to batter until just combined. Pour into pans, diving the mixture in half, using an offset spatula to spread. Make for 40 minutes (depending on oven), spinning the pans around every 10 minutes or so. Remove from pan and let cool for at least 2 hours before cutting.



Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter; softened
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 vanilla bean; scraped

Combine butter and cream cheese in stand mixer and add powdered sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla bean seeds until they speckle the mixture.

Assembly

Once the cake is cool, use a serated knife to remove to domes formed on both cakes. Split both of the cakes into 2 even layers. Clean one of the pans you use to make the cake in, and set the bottom of the springform pan inside. Using a 4" strip of acetate, line the cake pan's rims. Place a bottom layer of cake inside the pan. Using a piping bag, pipe a rim around the outermost edge of the cake, making sure to be piping along the acetate sheet. Fill in the rest with frosting and spread evenly. Lay another layer of cake on top, and repeats steps until your last layer of cake. Frost the top layer, too. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and remove from the springfrom pan and remove the acetate. Frost a crumb-coat [very lightly] on the cake and refrigerate for another 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator. Frost another thick layer of frosting onto the cake, so that none of it shows through. Place macerated berries on top just before serving, and mint leafs for decoration.