Gourmet Yellow Birthday Cake

So a very strange thing has happened. A whole year has passed. Specifically, my freshman year of college has passed. In some ways, it feels like I just got here. I can't believe it's already over. And I do not feel old enough to be a rising sophomore in college. Ay.

But to celebrate, my friend Sadie and I hosted a Farewell Feast for all my friends. There was pasta... lots of pasta. Five pounds of pasta. Literally. There was also garlic bread, meatballs, parmesan, and sauces.

There was also cake, because this was a dinner I was hosting, and no dinner under my authority gets made without an official dessert. We also had two upcoming birthdays in the group. So this was to a be not just any old cake, but a birthday cake. A whole category of its own.


I deliberated for a week as to what kind of cake to make, because "birthday" doesn't actually narrow it down very much.

Finally, I decided to go with the obvious: Birthday Cake. Like, Classic Birthday Cake. You know - yellow cake, chocolate frosting?

Only gourmet, obviously. What kind of baker do you think I am? Plus, I had 15 friends to impress.

Baking these layers took a while. Only one cake pan x 40 minutes each x letting someone else bake bread while the first layer cooled x the cakes baking faster on top than within = a while.

But they turned out beautifully! Ish. The cake pan turned out to be a pie pan... so the sides of the cakes were slanted, making for an hourglass shape to the final product, and a complicated assembly and frosting procedure.

Luckily, I am a professional. Evidence:

I successfully cut the cake in 16 pieces. They look really skinny, but when we served them onto plates, it turned out that they were quite tall... and way larger than they looked! Nice surprise.

The recipe called for cake flour, but I didn't have any and didn't want to buy any due to the whole end-of-the-year thing, so I substituted for whole what flour, which is what gives the cake that faux-banana bread appearance. It's really just your standard vanilla cake, but with a slightly more - as my mother put it - "rustic" taste, courtesy of the whole wheat. Plus whole wheat is healthy, so bonus points! It practically cancels out the frosting.

Hah. You wish. But silly things like calories and sugar and too much frosting don't exist on birthdays and other special occasions, like farewell feasts.

I definitely recommend this cake. The recipe produced robust, moist layers, with the classic yellow cake flavor but homemade depth. My roommate said she liked the whole wheat flour... and I believe her, but I'd like to try making this with all-purpose or even actual cake flour, just to see what it's like when it's made by the rules.

It was a great evening to cap off a great year. I'm really going to miss here over the summer. But the summer has much in store to look forward to as well! Carpe Summer (get it? seize the day/seize the summer? no? just me? okay)!

Gourmet Yellow Birthday Cake

Yields 2 8-inch or 9-inch cake rounds

4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 8 or 9-inch round cake pans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a mixer at medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Turn the mixer to low and beat in the buttermilk until just combined. The mixture will look curdled. Add the flour mixture in three separate batches, beating just until each addition is fully incorporated.

Spread the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (if using 8 inch cake pans, add 5-10 minutes to the baking time but watch closely). Remove from the oven and cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan and invert onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting, about 1 hour.

Chocolate Frosting
Yields enough to cover a 2-layer 8 or 9-inch cake

½ cup butter, room temperature
2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until it is smooth without lumps. Gradually add the powdered sugar, cocoa, and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Lastly, add the milk until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.