Cake Cake Cake – [Birthday Cake]

This past weekend I celebrated my birthday and decided to bake a cake for a party I was hosting! To keep it simple, I re-used a recipe from a wedding cake I made a couple months ago. Instead of keeping the frosting a simple white colour, I opted to add some red food colouring to the frosting to make it pink. To add some colour and character to the cake I ended up putting sprinkles all over the top and around the bottom. Adding sprinkles is an easy way to decorate any cake and bring a smile to everyone’s faces! :)

Recipe (1 2-tiered cake – bottom layer about 9″)

Vanilla Cake Layers = 2 layers = 1 tier
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
6 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 tablepsoon vanilla extract
add some sprinkles!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting = 2 layers = 1 tier
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract, clear so that frosting is more white
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons of whole milk
couple drops of red food colouring

PREHEAT: oven to 350.

COMBINE: together flour, baking powder, and salt.

CREAM: together butter and sugar on medium speed for 5 minutes until it is soft and light. Add in vanilla extract and mix until combined.

WHISK: together milk and egg whites until combined. Tip is to pour the milk into a measuring beaker first and then add all the eggs whites in and mix!

CREAM: together together dry and wet ingredients on low by starting with the flour mixture and alternating with the whole milk mixture. 4 separate additions for flour mixture and 3 for the whole milk. Make sure to scrap down the bowl with each addition. Grease your cake pans and pour mixture into the pans and smooth out the tops.

BAKE: for 28 – 35 minutes and let the cake cool in the pans before frosting with the vanilla buttercream.

VANILLA BUTTER CREAM: cream butter in a bowl for about 5 minutes until it is smooth and light in colour. Slowly add in icing sugar into mixture, 1/2 cup at a time and mix for about 10 seconds. Make sure to scrape down your bowl after every addition. Add in clear vanilla extract and some salt and cream together until combined. Lastly add in whole milk until the consistency is to your liking.

ASSEMBLE CAKE: by first placing the bottom cake layer onto the revolving cake stand. Spread a large portion of butter cream frosting evenly and smoothly across the cake layer. Place the second layer of cake on top of the first and repeat the process on the top of the cake until it is frosted. Thinly coat the sides of the cake with icing to seal the whole cake as smoothly as you can. This is just the crumb coating so it doesn’t have to be perfect! Refrigerate the cake for 20 minutes until the icing is firm to help set the crumb coat. Then apply the 2nd coat by starting with the sides and finishing with the top. This is where I used the icing smooth, spatula, and cake icer tip to help with the frosting process. Place this again back into the fridge and repeat steps again for the final coat. After this is done, all you have to do is repeat the steps for the top tier layer!

BIRTHDAY CAKE TOPPINGS: this is an easy way to spruce up a cake. I added some sprinkles on top of the cake and around the bottom edges because sprinkles make everyone happy!