I wanted to do something special for RJ’s birthday, so I though why not bake him a birthday cake?! I have never made a cake before, but I figured no harm no foul, if I messed it up I would just learn for the next try! This will make my very first cake! I am pretty proud of myself because it turned out great!! Â I will honestly say it didn’t take long to make this cake, and the longest parts are when you’re waiting for the cakes to cool. I can’t wait for my next cake adventure!!
I found this recipe from a favorite blog of mine called best birthday cake ever, and I would have to agree. The frosting on this recipe i ex-nayed and made a chocolate fudge frosting instead. The icing was the perfect amount of sweet and chocolate was best with the yellow cake. I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we have!!
Let’s get started!!
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line with circles of parchment paper, then butter parchment. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each egg addition. At low speed, beat in shaken buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three or so batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.
Spread batter evenly in the cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. (I like to drop mine a few times from two inches up, making a great big noisy fuss.) Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.
Now it’s time for the fudge frosting! This stuff makes this cake 🙂 I am not a huge chocolate fan, but this icing is my favorite by far.
Mix the butter, confectioner’s sugar, half&half and vanilla extract. I add the chocolate last because I save about a cup of the white frosting for decorating and coloring. Now, melt the chocolate using a double boiler by boiling a pot of water and taking a glass or plastic bowl that fits atop and melting the chocolate. Mix the chocolate by stirring constantly until melted thoroughly. Once you have set aside your white frosting, mix the chocolate to the larger batch until mixed through.
Champ is seen here looking up and waiting for me to drop something, our usual ritual at dinner time. Once the cakes have cooled, you need to carefully cut the top of one of the cakes to make it straight and even, this prevents any unevenness when the cakes are stacked.
Next time I will add more frosting in the middle of the cakes, it makes for a better looking cake and probably better tasting. I mixed some food coloring to make this Aztec blue color and put the frosting in a plastic baggy and snipped the corner of one to make a small hole to write with. I also will say that spreading the icing on the cake takes a steady  hand, you don’t want to get the crumbs on the icing. I decorated the outside with an icing decorator that has a star like shape to it. Really easy to do and it makes for a much better looking cake!
Happy Birthday my spoiled fiancé!
What you’ll need:
For the Cake:
4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (480 grams) cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (1 cup, 1/2 pound or 225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400 grams) sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk (475 ml), well-shaken
For the Icing:
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (no need to sift)
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Healthypassions 