Vanilla Birthday Cake

Chef D is back and she’s better than ever! I want to get a chefs hat with “Chef D” embroidered on it. Is that silly? I don’t care!

I made a fun cake last week and thought I would share the recipe with everyone! It was a simple layered vanilla cake with a vanilla butter cream frosting. My all time favourite kind of cake is vanilla so when I make cakes for other people you better believe its gonna be vanilla. It’s classic, its delicious and its overall perfect. One of my 2018 goal was to improve my baking and make an effort to try different things and invest time into it. It is never too late to start those New Years resolutions y’all!

INGREDIENTS

Vanilla Cake (for four 8 inch round baking pans)

• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 4 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup room temperature butter
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups room temperature milk

Vanilla Buttercream (enough to ice the cake and some extra)

• 2 2/3 cups soft butter
• 3 cups sifted icing sugar
• 12-16 tsp milk (and vanilla)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease and flour plans.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined
3. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (~5  minutes) *butter should be room temperature to make cakes moist
4. Add eggs one at a time until fully incorporated
5. Add vanilla
6. Alternate additions of flour mixture and milk until fully incorporated
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes (test with a toothpick after 30 minutes)
8. Cool cakes on a wire rack

Vanilla Butter Cream

1. Whip butter at room temperature until white and light
2. Add sugar and milk in alternating batches continue adding until you get your desired consistency
3. Separate into batches and add food coloring as desired

ASSEMBLY

1. Use buttercream to stick base layer to the cake board – this allows you to move the board freely without the cake sliding
2. Layer the cakes by piping a generous amount of icing between layer – I use a wide round piping tip for this
3. Spread a thin coat of icing without coloring on the cake as a base layer – pace cake with crumb coat in the fridge until icing is no longer tacky
4. Add enough food coloring to icing for even coloring – I use soft gel paste dye, a liquid can change the consistency of the icing
5. Eat and enjoy!

*important note* sister was not involved in the baking, she just invited herself to the kitchen!