Resist the urge to steal a sip or two of the Champagne—between the batter and the icing, you'll need an entire bottle for this recipe. If you prefer, serve Meringue Kisses on the side of each slice instead of arranging them on top of the cake.
- Prep time 1 hour & 30 minutes
- Total time 3 hours
- Portion size 22 servings
Ingredients
Method
Grease three 9-inch (1.5 L) round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk flour with baking powder; stir into butter mixture, alternating with 2 cups of the Champagne, making 2 additions of each, until smooth. Scrape into prepared cake pans.
Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven until cake tester inserted in centres comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pans for, 10 minutes. Invert onto racks; let cool completely. Peel off parchment paper.
While cakes are cooling, remove 3 3/4 cups of the icing to separate bowl; using red food colouring, tint pale pink. Using ivory food colouring, tint remaining icing to desired shade.
Cut each cake in half horizontally to make 6 layers. Place 1 bottom layer, cut side up, on cake plate; slide strips of waxed paper between edge of cake and plate (to keep plate clean). Brush all over with scant 1 tbsp of the remaining Champagne. Spread 3/4 cup of the pink icing over cut side; top with second layer, cut side down. Brush second layer all over with scant 1 tbsp of the remaining Champagne. Spread 3/4 cup of the remaining pink icing over top. Repeat with remaining cake layers, Champagne and pink icing, leaving top of stack bare.
Using large offset palette knife, spread thin layer of the ivory icing all over cake to seal in crumbs; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Using palette knife, spread icing all over cake, smoothing side and top. Place cake plate on cake turntable or lazy Susan; while rotating cake in 1 direction and using steady motion, run flat tip of small palette knife along side of cake, parallel to turntable, gradually moving knife higher to create concentric ridges. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 4 hours.) Arrange Meringue Kisses on top.
Nutritional facts per each of 22 servings: about
- Fibre 1 g
- Sodium 332 mg
- Sugars 94 g
- Protein 5 g
- Calories 816.0
- Total fat 38 g
- Potassium 86 mg
- Cholesterol 131 mg
- Saturated fat 23 g
- Total carbohydrate 115 g
%RDI
- Iron 11.0
- Folate 20.0
- Calcium 4.0
- Vitamin A 33.0
