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Graduation Photo Album Cake

Graduation Photo Album Cake
Our cooks took a page out of Dorothy's recipe collection to whip up this delicious picture book. They based the keepsake on her poppy seed cake, then opened that dessert up into an easy-to-make photo album idea. Follow these instructions, and you'll have your own commencement confection that's memorable cover to cover!
12-15 ServingsPrep: 40 min. Bake: 45 min. + cooling

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1-3/4 cups sugar, divided
  • 5 eggs, separated
  • 2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup poppy seeds
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 6 tablespoons shortening
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 6 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
  • Paste food coloring in school colors
  • 15-x 11-inch board
  • Yellow gift wrap for covering board
  • Clear cellophane for covering board
  • 4-x5-inch photo of graduate (laminated if desired)
  • Pastry tips—round #3, star #18, drop flower #107, and leaf #67
© Taste of Home 2013

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Graduation Photo Album Cake (continued)

Directions

  • Directions: Cover board with gift wrap, taping wrap on the back side
  • of board. Cover wrapped board with cellophane in the same way.
  • Prepare cake and frosting according to following recipe:
  • In a bowl, cream butter and 1-1/2 cups sugar. Add egg yolks and beat
  • well. Combine flour, poppy seeds, lemon peel, baking powder, baking
  • soda and salt.
  • Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.
  • In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat in
  • remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form.
  • Fold into batter.
  • Pour into a greased and floured 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at
  • 325° for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center
  • comes out clean. Cool on 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack
  • to cool cake completely. Transfer to covered board.
  • Trace book pattern twice onto waxed paper. Cut out. On one long side
  • of cake, position patterns so that the long straight edges sit on
  • the board and the wide ends meat at the center of cake. Secure with
  • toothpicks. With a serrated knife an following patterns, cut off top
  • of cake. Remove cake top and save for another use. Repeat on other
  • long side.
  • For frosting, cream butter, shortening and vanilla in a bowl. Beat
  • in confectioners' sugar and milk.
  • Place 1 cup frosting in a bowl for border around cake. Tint with food
  • coloring for main school color. Place 1/3 cup frosting in another
  • bowl and tint with second color. Place 1 tablespoon frosting in a
  • bowl and leave white. Set bowls aside. Frost the cake top and sides
  • with the remaining frosting.
  • If photo is not laminated, wrap it in plastic wrap. Place photo in
  • center of one page of cake.
  • Cut a small hole in a corner of pastry or plastic bag. Insert round
  • tip #3. Fill with main school-color frosting. Referring to photo
  • above, pipe "CLASS OF ____" on page without photo.
  • Insert drop flower tip #107. Pipe a rope border around bottom edges
  • of cake. Pipe flowers at corners of photo. Randomly pipe five
  • flowers above and three flowers below writing.
  • Fill another bag with reserved white frosting. Cut a small hole in
  • corner; pipe a dot in center of flowers.
  • Prepare a third bag; insert star tip #18 and fill with second
  • school-color frosting. Pipe designs above and below photo. Pipe
© Taste of Home 2013

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Graduation Photo Album Cake (continued)

Directions (continued)

  • vines on each side of the flower groups.
  • Insert leaf tip #67. Pipe leaves randomly near flowers. Remove photo
  • before cutting cake. Yield: 12-15 servings.
Editor's Note: Use of a coupler ring will allow you to easily change tips for different designs. Crafter thoughts—With its photo album theme, the cake can grace lots of other occasions, too. —Fit another snapshot on your dessert by making the writing smaller. Finished size: Cake is about 13 inches x 9 inches.
Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 piece) equals 679 calories, 34 g fat (18 g saturated fat), 142 mg cholesterol, 502 mg sodium, 90 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 6 g protein.
© Taste of Home 2013