Birthday Cake

It was my birthday! Woo birthday! You know what happened on my birthday? It snowed.

View out the window on my birthday
... complete with yawning cat
I invited friends over for a casual gathering on my birthday so I could share cake. I didn't want anything too fancy and that seemed like the perfect thing to do. But as you can imagine the wintry storm froze over the roads and no one could come! That didn't stop me from making a cake though! The neighbors were gracious enough to walk over and help me eat birthday cake... then I sent the rest with Patrick to work once the roads cleared.


Seeing that I was the guest of honor for my birthday I wanted to make the cake that would make me the happiest. So off I searched and searched and couldn't really come up with anything. Until I thought, hey my favorite birthday cake used to be Funfetti! You all know what I'm talking about:


Well I was having a little trouble coming to terms with making a boxed cake mix for my birthday for two main reasons. One - I enjoy cooking and baking from scratch and that's how I envisioned my birthday. Just me in the kitchen making an exciting birthday cake and a boxed cake mix wouldn't be too exciting. And two - I'm doing a food challenge and being more health / nutrition conscious these days and a boxed cake mix isn't inline with those goals. What's a birthday girl to do?!


Google around for homemade funfetti cake! I found a few different options and settled on one from Sally's Baking Addiction blog. Click here for the google document I made for it.

Homemade Funfetti Cake from Sally's Baking Addiction
Ingredients
   For the Cake *
1 and 2/3 cup (210g) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick or 115 g) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar 
1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup (60g) yogurt or sour cream
3/4 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup sprinkles (not nonpareils)
   For the Vanilla Buttercream *
1 cup (2 sticks or 230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3-4 cups (360-480g) powdered (confectioners') sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
salt, as needed
*Doubled for two - 9" pans

Directions
   Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9-inch springform or baking pan (round or square) generously with nonstick spray. Set aside.
   In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in the sugars vigorously getting out any brown sugar lumps - mixture will be gritty. Whisk in egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick. Slowly stir in sprinkles, but do not overmix because the sprinkles will bleed their color.
   Pour/spoon batter into prepared cake pan. This cake takes around 33-37 minutes to bake. What I suggest is to bake it for 20 minutes, then cover loosely with aluminum foil (loosely to avoid the top from sticking to the foil) and continue baking for 13-17 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.
   To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if too thick; add 1/4 teaspoon if frosting is too sweet. Frost cooled cake as desired and top with sprinkles. There may be leftover frosting depending how much you wish to use.
   Cake stays fresh covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 5 days.
   Other notes: for a layer cake: (1) Bake the cake as indicated and slice the cake horizontally to create two layers. Double the frosting if desired. (2) Double the cake recipe and bake in two separate 9-inch cake pans. Fill the pans only 1/2 way full and use any extra batter to make cupcakes. Double the frosting recipe as well. For standard cupcakes: bake for 20 minutes or 24+ mini cupcakes: bake for just 8-9 minutes. For a 9x13 pan: double the recipe, fill pan halfway with batter, use any extra batter to make a few cupcakes. This size cake will take around 30-35 minutes.


This was a really great birthday! Unfortunately it wasn't the imitation funfetti cake I was hoping it would be. So here's to next year and trying again.

On a happy note, though, the following week we went to DC to celebrate a friend's baby shower and wouldn't you know we got snowed out. But we had planned to stay with one of my college friends so kept our plans. Well she had made me a true funfetti cake in honor of my birthday! It was glorious!


It's Always Caturday
... and it's almost always nap time

1 comment:

  1. Glad Holly made you that special cake! Well, I did not think you could post any pics cuter than the ones you have but I believe this one might be the cutest yet!

    ReplyDelete