Best Classic White Layer Cake With Raspberry-Almond Filling

A beautiful soft, fine-grained vanilla birthday cake with luscious butter frosting and raspberry jam filling from the amazing folks at America's Test Kitchen. Lemon curd works really well too. You can omit the almonds for a nut-free cake. To quickly bring the milk and egg white mixture to room temperature, set the bottom of the measuring glass in hot water and stir until it feels cool rather than cold, around 65 F. MAKE AHEAD: Cake layers can be wrapped and stored for a day; frosting can be covered with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for several hours. Once assembled, the cake should be covered with an inverted bowl or cake cover and refrigerated. Under its coat of frosting, it will remain fresh for up to three days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. There is enough frosting to pipe a border around the base and top of the cake. If you want to decorate the cake more elaborately, you should make one and a half times the frosting recipe. If desired, finish the sides of the cake with 1 cup of sliced almonds (lightly toasted works well). Recipe is from Cook's Illustrated/Baking Illustrated.

• Ready In: 1 hr 3 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• Classic White Cake

•  nonstick cooking spray
• 2 1⁄4 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting the pans (9 ounces)
• 1  cup  whole milk, at room temperature
• 6  large  egg whites, at room temperature (3/4 cup)
• 2  teaspoons  almond extract
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3⁄4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
• 4  teaspoons baking powder
• 1  teaspoon table salt
• 12  tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool (1 1/2 sticks)

• Butter Frosting

• 16  tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool (2 sticks)
• 4  cups confectioners' sugar (1 pound)
• 1  tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1  tablespoon  whole milk
• 1  pinch table salt

• Raspberry-Almond Filling

• 1⁄2 cup  blanched slivered almond, toasted and chopped coarse (2 1/2 ounces)
• 1⁄3 cup  raspberry jam (seedless) or 1⁄3 cup  lemon curd

Directions

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.
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 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 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 1 1/2 hours.
7. For the Frosting: Beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed until sugar is moistened. Increase speed to medium-high (high if using handheld mixer); beat, stopping twice to scrape down bowl, until creamy and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Avoid overbeating, or frosting will be too soft to pipe.
8. For the Filling: Before assembling cake, set aside 3/4 cup of the frosting for decoration. Spread small dab of frosting in center of cake plate to anchor cake, and set down one cake layer. Combine 1/2 cup of remaining frosting with almonds in small bowl and spread over first layer. Carefully spread jam on top, then cover with second cake layer. Spread frosting over top and sides of assembled cake. Pipe reserved frosting around perimeter of cake at the base and the top. Cut the cake into slices and serve.