Birthday Cake

I love to make birthdays special for the ones I love and recently when I asked my boyfriend what kind of dessert he would like for his birthday, he quickly replied, "white cake with white frosting."  What?? Ho Hum!  Of all the yummy desserts in the world, this would not have been on my list, but that's what he wanted so I set out to find a white cake and frosting that would be worthy of the event.  

Thankfully we have Pinterest to guide us through the three hundred variations on white cake! One caught my eye because it was being billed as THE MOTHER OF ALL WHITE CAKES.  And it did not disappoint!  This cake was easy peasy to make and was light, a bit spongy, moist, and delicious-at least as delicious as a white cake can be, in my opinion. Here's the link to the Epicurious Website for the white layer cake.  I didn't take pictures of the actual cake making process, as I was in the zone, but this recipe is easy to follow and simple to make. I did snap a picture when the cakes were done.

They look pretty brown on the tops but they really weren't. I did make two separate batches because I wanted a nice, high cake.


Now, when I was given instructions for the white frosting, I was told not to use the kind that goes on cinnamon rolls-meaning no cream cheese.  But I wanted to add a little pizazz so I began my hunt for white frosting. There is no end to variations on this so I didn't want to spend a lot of time looking at the same thing over and over.  A friend who makes a lot of cupcakes told me about her use of Vanilla Bean Paste in her frosting, and I knew it was just the thing!  So in my search for the perfect frosting,  I came upon this recipe for Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting.  The blogger, Rose, has a great post about making her own vanilla, as well as a great recipe and steps to make this easy, creamy, melt in your mouth yummy frosting! I like it because it's not like bakery frosting that smacks of greasy shortening, and it wasn't too sweet.  And here's a side note...if you usually buy those little tubs of pre-made frosting...STOP!  Making frosting from scratch is quick, cheap and SOOOOOO much tastier!  

I'm realizing now that I didn't take a photo of the frosting when I made it. I have to get better about remembering to do that! But you can see it on Rose's blog at the link above.  You'll just have to trust me when I say it was fluffy, pillowy goodness!  I did double the recipe so I would have plenty.

Here's the Vanilla Bean Paste that I bought from a local cake decorating supply shop:

It's about $8 but totally worth it.

I did take a few photos while I was building the cake. I decided that four layers was a bit much and If I only used three, I would have a little taste tester and wouldn't have to wait all day until we cut into the birthday cake! Like my strategy there?!!  So here's the building of the cake:

I did a thin crumb coat all over and put the whole thing in the freezer for about 20 minutes, and then frosted it all over.  This step is really essential! When you take your cake out of the freezer you can then frost it without crumbs getting all up in your business and making everything look like a terrible mess.

I wanted to make this cake festive but simple so I made a little bunting to go around the sides and found a topper and candles at Hobby Lobby for about $6 total.

To make the bunting I punched out circles and then used this ruler to evenly fold them.  I then attached them to bakers twine by using a tiny piece of double sided tape.

It really didn't take a lot of time to put it all together! I used scrapbook paper and other supplies that I had on hand and I enjoy doing this kind of thing.  For those of you who find this to be tedious and the last thing you want to spend your time on, you can buy them already made I think on Etsy or other craft stores.

Here's my finished product!

I put a small band of sprinkles at the bottom edge of the cake, and soon after I took this photo, I wished that I had done another thin band of sprinkles around the top edge of the cake, but by then the frosting was not soft enough for the sprinkles to hold to.  And of course, the birthday boy asked, "Where are the sprinkles?" 

Over all, I was pleased with how it turned out and it tasted as good as it looked!