Why Frosted by CC cake is better
I have always liked decorating cake but haven’t always liked to eat it. See, the thing about cake, it's just sweet: a generic tasting, sweet loaf, smothered and filled with a sweet—and many times gritty—icing.
About 60 years ago, some amazingly creative people came up with a boxed cake mix you could buy at the store. Fun Fact: when cake mixes were first put on the store shelves, people wouldn’t buy them because all you had to do was add water. Betty Crocker pulled all the mixes and designed them so consumers would have to add more things like butter or oil, eggs, and water. This made us feel like we were still making something we could call homemade.
Cake mixes today are so widely used that most of us have never actually made a cake from scratch, which is why we have this so-so cake. Even those of us who have ventured out into the “scratch” world are still using things like canned frosting, store-bought vanilla extract, and powered sugar icing—also known as American Buttercream. In fact, more and more bakeries are using this sugar-laden American Buttercream too because it’s cheap. Most of them are using the mass-produced vanilla extract, as well.
You gotta try the frosting
I decided years ago, before I went after the cake itself, I needed to find a great frosting. After many delicious taste tests, I found myself over the moon and totally in love with Swiss Meringue Buttercream. As opposed to the heavy, gritty, and overly sweet powdered sugar based frosting most of us grew up on, the Swiss Meringue Buttercream is made with whipped egg whites, a golden homemade syrup, and butter. This frosting is light, smooth, luxurious, and delicately sweet. This stuff is so unbelievably good on its own, you could just eat it out of a bowl like ice cream.
Why my cake is so tender
After finding my dream frosting, I knew I needed better cake. Putting the Swiss Meringue Buttercream on a boxed cake felt wrong. In my search to find great cake recipes, I found out one of the more important steps to making a great cake is using Cake Flour. Cake Flour is wheat flour mixed with another type of starch—in most cases corn starch. This added starch keeps the flour protein low, so your cakes come out more tender. What I found at the store was most Cake Flours were not only very expensive but had added chemicals and conditioners. I am not a fan of that. I now make my own Cake Flour blend with just two ingredients: flour and arrowroot starch. I am pleased to say all of my cakes are full of real and simply delicious flavor that comes from the quality ingredients and care I put into each and every slice.
There is no such thing as plain old vanilla
Okay, time to spill the beans
The next big thing that has really set the flavor of my cakes and buttercream apart from the rest is the fact that I make my own Vanilla Extract. In fact, I make all my own extracts. Almost all vanilla extracts you buy at your local grocer are brewed in some type of glycerin-based liquid; plus they have added water, and sometimes you’ll even find caramel coloring and “vanillin”— which is basically wood extract. Real Vanilla Extract is made with just two ingredients: vanilla beans and vodka. Most vanilla extract recipes online say to use any type of vodka because vodka is such a neutral flavor it doesn’t matter what brand. I don’t like vodka. I think it has a really awful taste. So, naturally, I decided we should try lots of different vodkas to see if we could taste a difference from brand to brand. We could. So, we made several batches of vanilla extract with different brands of vodka. Once they had brewed for about 6 months, we did a taste test. We found that the brand of vodka made a huge difference in the final product. At the end of the day, we picked a local, organic vodka. Its smooth and clean taste gave our vanilla a chance to speak for itself. Our final product is a uniquely rich, thick extract with a robust earthiness and wonderful floral notes. So, when you order a vanilla cake or vanilla buttercream from Frosted by CC, you will be getting a truly vanilla product. Not only will you taste that difference, you will see the vanilla bean seeds in every bite!
Still need convincing? Order a cake, and taste the difference for yourself!