White Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I never thought I could fall in love with a cake that required only egg whites instead of whole eggs, but I did with this one. In 2008, Bridget from The Way the Cookie Crumbles did a comparison of white cakes from 3 different well-known cookbooks. Then, in July of this year, she did another comparison of white cakes using Dorie Greenspan's Party Cake, CI's white cake, and an adjusted version of CI's recipe that she created herself.
Since she had done all the work for us, I decided to try out a halved version of her adapted recipe immediately. I fell in love with it. I made it again (the full version) for my students this past summer, and they loved it, too. Then, I made the halved two more times just for the heck of it. This cake is so good.
So, I was craving it again, and made another halved version in a bread pan instead of a cake pan. The edges turned dark brown, but everything else was fine. I used a vanilla buttercream frosting recipe from one of my cookbooks instead of my usual one, and it yielded just enough for this cake. I had to add more milk to it to make it more spreadable. This is definitely my go-to white cake. Now, I need to find a go-to yellow cake...

TIP: Since I make custard-based ice creams quite often, I end up with a lot of egg whites. I pour these egg whites in ice trays and place them in the freezer to save just for this recipe and any other recipes requiring egg whites (but really I think about this cake every time I pour the whites in the trays :D). I let the egg whites sit out on the counter to thaw out before making this cake. I just pour the whites into my measuring cup or a bowl on a scale.

Bridget's White Cake (Full Version - Halved version below)

by The Way the Cookie Crumbles
PRINTABLE VERSION!

• Nonstick cooking spray (I use Baker's Joy)
  
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites (¾ cup or 228 grams), at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus more for dusting the pans
• 1½ cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (11.35 ounces)
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon table salt (I use kosher)
  
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks), softened but still cool

1. For the Cake: Set oven rack in middle position. (If oven is too small to cook both layers on a single rack, set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle positions.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour. (If you use the Baker's Joy spray, you don't need to do all of those steps. Just spray and proceed to step 2.)

2. Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.
3. Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
4. Add all but ½ cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1½ minutes. Add remaining ½ cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.
5. Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. (If oven is small, place pans on separate racks in staggered fashion to allow for air circulation.) Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.
6. Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1½ hours.

Bridget's White Cake (HALVED VERSION)
by The Way the Cookie Crumbles
PRINTABLE VERSION!

• Nonstick cooking spray (I use Baker's Joy)
  
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp whole milk, at room temperature
• 3 large egg whites (a bit more than 1/3 cup or 110 grams), at room temperature
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp cake flour (4.5 ounces) (plus more for dusting the pans, if no spray)
• 3/4 cups + 1 Tbsp granulated sugar (5.68 ounces)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp table salt (I used kosher)
  
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened but still cool.

1. For the Cake: Set oven rack in middle position. (If oven is too small to cook both layers on a single rack, set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle positions.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray one 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour. (If you use the Baker's Joy spray, you don't need to do all of those steps. Just spray and proceed to step 2.)

2. Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.
3. Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
4. Add all but ½ of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using hand-held mixer) for 1½ minutes. Add remaining ½ of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.
5. Pour batter evenly in a prepared cake pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.
6. Let cake rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1½ hours.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
adapted by Betty Crocker's Cookbook
PRINTABLE VERSION!

• 3 cups powdered or confectioner's sugar
• 1/3 butter or margarine, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-4 Tbsp milk

1. Mix butter until smooth; add powdered sugar on low speed. Stir in vanilla and milk (1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency is reached).

Frosts 13 x 9-inch cake or fill and frosts an 8- or 9-inch two-layer cake.