On the recent occasion of my eldest child turning eight, I was curious as to how many times I’ve made this “Best Birthday Cake Recipe.” I have three kids and a baby – and considering I’ve made it for each of their birthdays that’s 8 + 5 + 2 + 0 = 15. (And that’s not counting cakes I’ve made for others and holidays.)
The not-too-sweet cake is pale yellow in color, super moist, easy to whip together and uses no special ingredients. It holds up well when slicing into shapes for various towering (or polar bear) cakes. It is pure homemade deliciousness.
I’ve shared photos of these birthday cakes over the year – but never the cake recipe. You may find it quite humorous to peruse my …ummmm…learning-curve in photography skill in the links below:
Polar Bear Cake
Fish-Shaped Cake and Underwater Scene Cupcakes
Candy Land Cake (This cake can also be made with the recipe shared in the post.)
St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Cupcakes
For her birthday cake theme this year, my daughter was inspired by the little Cupboard Gnome who lives among my baking extracts. (See photo above) She wanted a “gnome cake with toadstools.” These meringue mushrooms are super easy to make – really. I am NOT adept with a pastry bag; but a zip-top bag snipped at the corner made a good-enough pastry bag to turn out these mushrooms.
I just assembled them with extra buttercream frosting. (And use cold fresh eggs – instead of eggs at room temperature – as suggested in this food science article from The Kitchn.)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter or shortening (I uses 1/4 cup of each)
- 1 2/3 cup sugar (I decreased this from Mom;s original recipe)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use good quality vanilla!)
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/3 cup sour milk (1 1/3 tablespoon vinegar + enough 1% milk to make 1 1/3 cups)
Directions
- Grease, place wax paper in two 8x1-1/2-inch or 9x1-1/2 inch or one 9x13-inch baking pan.
- Stir together flour, powder, soda and salt; set aside.
- In large mixing bowl beat shortening/butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat till well combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
- To the egg mixture, add the flour mixture alternately with the sour milk, beating on low speed after each addition just till combined (I often use a wooden spoon because it gets less spatters around my kitchen.) Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake in 350 decree oven for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Do not overbake! Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Place parchment paper over top of cake pan and wire cooling rack over that; flip cake out onto rack. (Parchment paper makes for easy transfer of cake to cake stand or to board for cutting into shapes.)
- Frost with your favorite buttercream frosting.
Do you have a favorite cake recipe you make for birthdays? What type of cake do you like to eat on your birthday?
This is adorable Serena, and I’m not partial to green cake. My kids request red velvet EVERY birthday, and have been for years, as I’ve been making it since 1982, long before it became the “it” cake. You can find my recipe at http://blogs.relish.com/love-actually/. Thanks for sharing, Jill
So have you figured out approximately how many time you’ve made the red velvet cake? (:
Wow, this must be awesome if you’ve made it that many times!! It sounds like a delicious one
Sues
Thanks Sues! It’s nice to have a go-to cake and just KNOW it’s going to turn out delicious – because it’s pretty forgiving!
Just made this for a pot luck & everyone who tasted it loved it. Thanks Clara
Thanks!! So glad it can be “your new” go-to cake too!
It looks great! I’ve got one in the oven for my son’s first birthday as I type, eventually it will look like a giraffe (I hope).
FYI, You have sour milk in the ingredient list but it is not in the directions anywhere. I added it after all of the dry ingredients and beat well.
Lisa…send a photo of the giraffe!!! Please! Yes, I edited the directions to add the sour milk to the wet ingredients (eggs mixture) alternately with dry ingredients. Thanks for catching!!