The Kitchen Counter Cooking School (36 page)

Her final conclusion: It's your life. No one will judge you for ordering in a pizza every so often or if you have the occasional hit of ramen noodles for lunch. “But when it comes right down to it, Michael Pollan had it right. Don't eat anything that your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food, or at least don't eat it all the time,” Beve said. “Just eat simply. If you cook more and you think about it, even just get in the habit of reading labels, you're more than halfway there.”

 

3 cups sifted cake flour (300 grams), or 2
cups sifted all-purpose
flour (300 grams)
2
teaspoons baking powder
teaspoon salt
1
cups sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted, softened butter (
cup or 150 grams)
1
teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1
cups milk

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans; line the bottoms with wax paper or parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until they become light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. Add the vanilla, then beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, about 4 minutes.

Next, add one-third of the flour mixture, then half the milk, then more flour mixture, then the rest of the milk, and end with the rest of the flour mixture, beating well after each addition. When it's all combined, beat for one more minute.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Cool completely before frosting.