Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened1-3/4 cups sugar, divided5 large eggs, separated2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour1/4 cup poppy seeds1 tablespoon grated lemon zest1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup buttermilkBUTTERCREAM FROSTING:1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened6 tablespoons shortening1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract6 cups confectioners’ sugar1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milkPaste food coloring in school colors15x11-inch boardYellow gift wrap for covering boardClear cellophane for covering board4x5-inch photo of graduate (laminated if desired)Pastry tips—round #3, star #18, drop flower #107, and leaf #67
Preparation
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 zest, 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 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the 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. 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 vines on each side of the flower groups.
Insert leaf tip #67. Pipe leaves randomly near flowers. Remove photo before cutting cake.
