Tuesdays with Dorie: Perfect Party Cake
June 30, 2009 at 1:21 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, groups, layer cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 52 Comments
Like many of you, I’ve made the Perfect Party Cake before, but it was so good that when I saw that Carol of mix, mix… stir, stir picked it for TWD, party or no party, I was happy to give it a second go! Since I had stayed pretty true to the original last year, this time around I thought I’d switch up the flavors a bit. Instead of using lemon zest and juice, I put almond extract in the cake itself and matcha powder in the buttercream frosting (I just added both flavors to taste). I skipped the jam component and sprinkled toasted sliced almonds over each layer. Good, good stuff!
The original cake is made from two thicker layers that are halved to make a four-layer cake…I simplified things a bit here, and just baked three thinner ones and used them as-is (or as-was, I guess). After making it twice now, the cake doesn’t seem to be an incredibly high-riser…but it was soft, moist and had a great fluffy texture both times, so I’m assuming that’s the norm. Dorie herself weighed in on the TWD site with some tips to achieve party cake perfection– check them out here.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read mix, mix… stir, stir (Carol always has some cool tricks up her sleeve, so definitely check her post out). Don’t forget to scan the TWD Blogroll!
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a whisk and a spoon 
Love the tweaks you made to the cake. It looks and sounds wonderful! That green is gorgeous!
Comment by Susan at Sticky,Gooey,Creamy,Chewy— June 30, 2009 #
Your cake looks lovely!
Comment by Michele— June 30, 2009 #
love it…I will have to try that variation next time….
Comment by Mary— June 30, 2009 #
je n’ai pas encore goûté aux saveurs matcha, mais j’en entends parler beaucoup, et j’imagine que cela doit être bien bon !
c’est superbe 🙂
Comment by isabelle— June 30, 2009 #
“matcha” buttercream?
Thanks for the ideas – I am anxious to try this cake again!
Comment by Jeff— June 30, 2009 #
Matcha? What a GREAT idea!
Comment by Madam Chow— June 30, 2009 #
What a nice combination of flavors… very exotic! And talk about the colours… WOW! The frosting looks super thick and creamy! mmmm…
Comment by Vibi— June 30, 2009 #
It looks beautiful and delicious. I’ll have to make this one again as a cake.
Comment by Kim— June 30, 2009 #
What in the world is matcha ?
Comment by chocolatechic— June 30, 2009 #
Matcha is powdered green tea. I bought it in a little canister at a Japanese shop.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— June 30, 2009 #
Wow, your cake looks so neat!! I’ve never tried matcha but the green color is really pretty. I love the way you changed things up this go round.
Comment by Tracey— June 30, 2009 #
Beautiful! Great ideas!!
Comment by Deanna— June 30, 2009 #
Matcha and almond! What a great flavor combo and could that color be any better? I love it. Since you have some matcha on hand you should check out my Cocomatcha drink, it’s easy and really good. http://www.tablefare.com/recipes/index.php?recipeID=35&n=Cocoamatcha-Hot-or-Cold
Thanks for baking with me this week!
Comment by Carol Peterman— June 30, 2009 #
Oh, I will definitely check that out. And I’ll have to walk over to Chinatown to see if I can find the tapioca pearls for the cold version! Thanks!
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— June 30, 2009 #
Where, oh where will I find matcha tea!! The cake is simply gorgeous!!!
Comment by nina— June 30, 2009 #
Beautiful cake!
Comment by Kimberly— June 30, 2009 #
love your changes, especially the color you got for the frosting!
Comment by Spike— June 30, 2009 #
Awesome looking cake! Great job!
Comment by Beryl— June 30, 2009 #
Looks delicious! What a great idea.
Comment by Betsy— June 30, 2009 #
amazing idea! love it!
Comment by Natalie— June 30, 2009 #
Great subs…it looks too good to eat! (but I would, believe me…)
Comment by Susan— June 30, 2009 #
LOVE the combination of flavors. I made a third layer because mine didn’t rise much either. But it was good.
Yours look heavenly.
Comment by teaandscones— June 30, 2009 #
Great job, fun alterations!
Comment by Jodie— June 30, 2009 #
Wow that looks incredible! I am an almond extract junkie. Good thing I’m not there, I’d eat it all LOL
Comment by Amanda— June 30, 2009 #
great variation!
Comment by Tammy— June 30, 2009 #
Wow, that matcha buttercream looks cool. The green is so intense! I’ve got to play around with some matcha powder.
Comment by Rebecca— June 30, 2009 #
Beautiful baking, as always! I love the matcha flavored frosting.
Comment by Heather Peskin— June 30, 2009 #
i love the color!
Comment by Sophie— June 30, 2009 #
I love anything with almond extract and that icing looks fantastic. It’s nice to know this cake adapts well to different flavor combinations.
Comment by Margot— June 30, 2009 #
Wow, it’s beautiful! And, yup, perfect 🙂
Comment by Sues— June 30, 2009 #
What a great idea to use matcha! I like that you simplified this cake. The color is stunning!
Comment by Leslie— June 30, 2009 #
Matcha buttercream — you are a pastry goddess Steph!
Comment by Linda @ Tender Crumb— July 1, 2009 #
Wow! This looks great. I love anything matcha. What a beautiful color too!
Comment by food librarian— July 1, 2009 #
Steph, Thanks for showing us your beautiful variations. I’ve never used Matcha pwdr but have seen it on Chockylit. Guess I’ll have to order or go to STL to get some. Love the great ideas, almond, almond extract. My lemon extract was a little strong so I need to adjust, even though I love tangy and strong lemon the extract flavor was a little overpowering. Second time to bake, 1st time gave away so I was excited about this go’round. Yours is gorgeous. Loved this cake and all the possibilities.
AmyRuth
Comment by Amy Ruth— July 1, 2009 #
I really like this variation of the cake. Fantastic job!!! You never disappoint.
Comment by Eliana— July 1, 2009 #
Beautiful cake! I haven’t tried matcha yet, but I’m seeing it on a lot of food blogs. Definitely on my to-do list.
Comment by theeclecticconnoisseur— July 1, 2009 #
What a fun idea! Your cake looks so neat and fluffy.
Comment by Holly— July 1, 2009 #
I love the matcha buttercream. I have a whole bag of it in the pantry that I still need to use. Your cake looks and sounds wonderful.
Comment by Wendy— July 1, 2009 #
Cool! Green icing!!
This cake is fun to get creative with 🙂
Comment by Jacque— July 1, 2009 #
My favorite thing each week is to see how people take the recipe and make it their own with the creative genius that abides within them…you are one of those people! I love the topping on this…you win with this combination. Are you on Twitter?
Comment by Kayte— July 1, 2009 #
Thanks, Kayte!! I’m not on Twitter…I don’t really understand it, to be honest. I’m not that with it, I guess. 🙂
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— July 1, 2009 #
I love… and I mean LOVE anything green tea. ANYTHING. I actually just finished eating some green tea probiotic frozen yogurt. I could eat it morning, noon, and night! I wish I had a piece of that cake!
Comment by Teanna— July 1, 2009 #
The flavors you chose sound fantastic. I am thinking this cake is great no matter what you decide to do with it.
Beautiful.
Comment by Mary Ann— July 1, 2009 #
Wow, that color is quite eye-catching. =) I immediately wondered what you had added to the frosting. I’ve never tried matcha powder; I’ll have to see if I can get my hands on some.
Comment by Di— July 1, 2009 #
Gorgeous cake, great flavor substitutions.
Comment by Mermaid Sweets— July 1, 2009 #
Oh, this looks great. I just made some matcha tea macarons. Similar matcha/almond combination as you have here. The combination is really delicious. I’ve never made anything with green tea powder before. I was thinking of making some ice cream with the powder. But I wouldn’t have thought about cake frosting. Great idea! I am also very excited as my own Dorie book *finally* arrived this week from Mr Amazon. I’ve been flicking through it drolling over the recipes. I must try and join the Tuesday group. Lovely, lovely cake again, as always!
Comment by Mélanger— July 2, 2009 #
Wowowow I love the colors of this cake!
Comment by Karine— July 4, 2009 #
Oh wow, just gorgeous! I love the flavor combo!
Comment by Caitlin— July 5, 2009 #
Oh no you didn’t! YES YOU DID!! You made the party cake even better! Mmmmmm… matcha! May I ask where you buy your matcha powder?
Comment by howtoeatacupcake— July 5, 2009 #
Thanks! Actually this matcha powder I bought while we were living in Australia. There are lots of Asian shops where i live now that sell it as well.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— July 6, 2009 #
Hi kayte! I’m excited to try this cake for a birthday party next week- could you possibly give me any more specifics about the changes you made, as I am less versed in cake making? Such as an approximation of how much almond extract & matcha powder? Thank you so much, can’t wait to try!
Comment by Jaye— August 8, 2013 #
I made this so many years go, I don’t exactly remember. I’d go with a 1/2 teaspoon extract in the cake. When you make the frosting, start ith 2 teaspoons matcha, and taste it. You can add more if not strong enough.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— August 9, 2013 #