Birthday Cake
Recipe video above. With three layers of soft, buttery Vanilla Cake slathered with My Favourite Chocolate Frosting, this is the Birthday Cake I always wished I had as a kid. The kind every “normal” kid seemed to get, and I was quietly jealous of! The frosting is totally dreamy - rich chocolate flavour, way less sweet than buttercream, completely smooth, it tastes like the most delicious chocolate mousse you've ever had. The perfect all-rounder - spread, layer, pipe tall swirls, stays creamy even when refrigerated, rich but not overly so. Finish your cake with a generous shower of sprinkles. Because, birthdays! 🎉
Servings: 12 - 16
Calories: 339cal
Ingredients
3 layer vanilla cake
- 2 cups plain / all purpose flour (Note 1)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (check it's still active, Note 2)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt (kosher salt) (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
- 4 large eggs (50 - 55g / 2 oz each), at room temp (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 cups caster / superfine sugar (granulated/regular ok too, Note 2)
- 115g / 1/2 cup unsalted butter , cut into 1.5cm / 1/2” cubes (or so)
- 1 cup milk , full fat (Note 5)
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tsp vegetable or canola oil , or other plain flavoured oil (Note 6)
My Favourite Chocolate Frosting
- 200g / 7 oz dark chocolate chips or melts (semi-sweet chocolate chips) , or chopped block (Note 7)
- 3/4 cup thickened cream / heavy cream , or other whipping cream 35 – 40% fat (Note 7)
- 1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder (no need to sift), or regular unsweetened cocoa powder (Note 8)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
- 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter , softened
- 2 cups (250g) soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted (Note 9)
- 250g / 8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese block (not tub) , at room temperature (Note 10)
- 1/2 cup thickened cream / heavy cream , for whipping, fridge cold (Note 7)
Instructions
ABBREVIATED
- Vanilla cake - Beat eggs and sugar until triple in volume, fold in flour. Whisk hot milk + butter + oil + vanilla, temper with bit of batter, then slowly beat into cake batter. Bake in 3 pans for 23 minutes, cool inverted then frost.
- My Favourite Chocolate Frosting - Bloom cocoa, mix into melted chocolate. Cream butter, beat in icing sugar, then cream cheese and chocolate mixture. Fridge 2 hours. Whip with cream. Use immediately.
FULL RECIPE
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) for 20 minutes before starting the batter (Note 11). Place shelf in the middle of the oven.
- Pans - Grease 3 x 20cm / 8” cake pans with butter, then line with parchment / baking paper. Best to use cake pan without a loose base, if you can, as the batter is quite thin. (Note 12)
- Dry ingredients - Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Beat eggs until triple - Beat eggs for 30 seconds on speed 6 of a Stand Mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or hand beater. With the beater still going, pour in the sugar over 45 seconds, then beat on speed 8 for 7 minutes until the eggs triple in volume and become white.
- Heat Milk-Butter - While egg is beating, place butter and milk in a heatproof jug and microwave 2 minutes on high until the milk is hot and butter is melted (or use stove). Don't let the milk boil over.
- Add flour in 3 batches - When the egg is whipped, add the flour in 3 batches beating for 5 seconds on Speed 1 in between. Once all the flour is in, beat for another 5 - 10 seconds until you can't see any flour, then stop beating straight away.
- Combine milk, vanilla & oil with batter - Pour hot milk, vanilla and oil into the now empty flour bowl. Add about 1 1/2 cups of cake batter into the hot milk bowl (no need to be 100% accurate with amount). Whisk vigorously using a handheld whisk until smooth and a bit foamy.
- Slowly beat in milk - Turn beater back on Speed 1 then pour the Milk mixture into the cake batter over 15 seconds, then turn beater off.
- Scrape and final mix - Scrape down sides and base of bowl. Beat on Speed 1 for 10 seconds - batter should now be smooth and pourable.
Bake:
- Divide batter between three pans (370g / 13 oz batter per pan). Bang each cake pan on the counter 3 times to knock out big bubbles (Note 13).
- Bake 23 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.
Cool & frost:
- Cool - Remove pans from oven. Cool in cake pans for 15 minutes, then gently turn out onto cooling racks. Cool upside down - slight dome will flatten perfectly. Level cake = neat layers.
- Refrigerate - Once fully cool on the counter, refrigerate for 30 minutes before frosting (makes it easier to frost as cake is firmer when cold).
- Frost - Use the cake layers upside for flat surfaces. Spread 1 cup Chocolate Frosting on each layer, then frost the sides and surface generously. Use leftover frosting to pipe decorative swirls on the top.
- Sprinkle! Decorate with sprinkles as desired. How I decorate the base - place sprinkles around the base, then use a butter knife to scoop them up and press onto the sides. See video for visual demo.
Chocolate Frosting:
- Bloom cocoa – Heat the cream in a heatproof bowl until hot but make sure it doesn't come to a boil. Add cocoa powder and whisk until lump free – it will be like a thin paste. Set aside 5 minutes to bloom (brings out chocolate flavour).
- Melt chocolate – Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and melt in the microwave in bursts until smooth – 30 seconds on high, stir, then 20 second increments.
- Chocolate paste – Add the cocoa paste into the melted chocolate. Whisk until combined and smooth, it will be like a thin paste. Cool for 15 minutes on the counter – it will thicken. Don't worry if a skin forms on the surface, it will beat out in the next step.
- Cream cheese whip – In a separate large bowl, beat butter with a handheld mixer until soft and fluffy (about 1 1/2 minutes on high). Add icing sugar and beat until sandy and no large butter lumps remain (~ 30 seconds). Add cream cheese and beat until smooth and creamy (~30 seconds), stopping once no yellow butter bits remain.
- Beat in chocolate – Add all the chocolate paste and beat until combined. Taste. Yum!
- Refrigerate – Cover the bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours until properly fridge-cold (stick the beaters in the bowl). You can leave it in the fridge at this point for days.
- Fluff frosting – Remove bowl from the fridge. Add the 1/2 cup of cream. Beat on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until you have stiff peaks (ie upright Santa hats, not floppy elf hat). The frosting should be beautifully creamy like buttercream but fluffy like whipped cream. Use immediately (see My Favourite Chocolate Frosting full recipe for notes on keeping, shelf life, etc)
Notes
To ensure success:
RECIPE NOTES 1. Cake flour works just fine with this recipe, but it's marginally better using plain / all-purpose flour (flavour, softness, shelf-life). 2. Caster / superfine sugar is my default for baking as the finer grains dissolve more easily. However, regular white sugar (granulated sugar) will work just fine with this recipe. 3. Eggs - important to be at room temp as they fluff better when whipped which is key to the fluffy texture of this cake. Also, fresher eggs aerate better = better rise. Old eggs don't fluff as well. Quick way to warm up fridge cold eggs - place in a large bowl, cover with warm tap water (just warm, not hot), leave for 5 minutes. Wipe dry (to avoid residual water dripping into bowl), then use per recipe. Large eggs - 50 - 55g / 2 oz per egg this is the industry standard of egg sizes sold in cartons labelled as "large eggs" in Australia and the US. See here for what to do if your eggs are much larger/smaller. 4. Baking powder - dead baking powder is a common problem with cake fails, even if not past the expiry date. Here's how to check yours is still good. Baking soda (bi-carb) won’t make the cake rise quite as well. If you have no choice, then use 3/4 teaspoons of baking soda. 5. Milk - if you sub with lower fat milk then the texture of the crumb becomes a little less tender. Do not substitute with non-dairy milk, such as soy or almond milk. 6. Oil - just 3 teaspoons makes a noticeable difference to the tenderness of the crumb AND keeps the crumb moist for days. 7. Dark chocolate - called semi-sweet chocolate in the US - any chocolate with ~45 - 55% cocoa. Make sure you use chocolate from the baking aisle, not confectionary aisle (only exception is Lindt blocks). Use chips or melts/discs for convenience, or chop up a block. Bittersweet/70% also works, giving a deeper colour and slightly firmer frosting. Milk and white chocolate are too soft, the frosting will be too loose. 8. Cream needs to be 35% fat minimum in order for frosting to thicken as intended. The frosting will be looser if you use a lower fat cream - still spreadable but not pipe-able. 9. Dutch processed cocoa is darker and more intense than regular cocoa. Using regular will give a lighter colour and slightly less depth, but still great, no need to go out of your way for Dutch. 10. Cream cheese - I use Philadelphia, which is firm but softer than some brands. Firmer cream cheese (like Coles brand 🇦🇺) will give you a slightly more stable frosting, still super creamy, so not a bad thing at all - it's actually better if you're wanting to pipe very tall swirls on cupcakes. Tub cream cheese is more spreadable, so the frosting will be softer, fine for spreading and sandwiching, but not ideal for piping. 11. Oven preheating - 30 minutes preheat is recommended to ensure no loss of heat when the oven door is opened. Never use the rapid heat function on your oven for baking, no matter how fancy your oven is! 12. Cake pans - the batter is quite thin so to ensure no leakage, best not to use a cake pan with a loose base or a springform pan. If that’s all you’ve got, then use butter to firmly fill the gap (this should be enough - I had no leakage when I did this) and for extra insurance, try to cut the paper for the base slightly larger so it goes slightly up the wall. 13. Knock out big bubbles - banging cake pans on counter will knock out big air bubbles in the batter that causes unsightly irregular holes in the crumb. It does not burst the tiny bubbles that make the cake rise - they are too small to bang out! 11. Sweetness note - sweeter than Asian cakes, less sweet than typical Western butter cakes. Please do not reduce sugar - 1 1/2 cups is minimum required to make the eggs foamy enough to rise. 12. Different measures in different countries - tablespoon and cup sizes differ slightly from country to country. In most recipes, the difference is not enough to affect the outcome of the recipe, but for baking recipes, you do need to be careful. I've tested this recipe using both US and Australian cups (the two countries with the greatest size variance) and the cakes were exactly the same. So you can have confidence that this recipe can be used no matter which country you are in - only exception is Japan (cup sizes are considerably smaller (200ml) so please use weights provided). For absolutely certainty, opt to use the weights provided (click Metric toggle button above ingredients). Professional kitchens only use weights. 13. Storage - Cakes can be kept in an airtight container or individual wrapped for 4 days in the fridge (or pantry, if it's cool), it has an excellent shelf life. Still great even on day 7. Freezer 3 months, unfrosted. Frosting can be made the day before then refrigerated, give it a quick whip then use per recipe. Once frosted, store in the fridge. Cakes are always best served at room temperature, but this frosting stays creamy even when refrigerated.
- Read recipe from start to finish before starting;
- Make sure your baking powder is not past its expiry - here's how to check;
- Fresh eggs make the cake rise properly (old eggs don't aerate as well);
- Work in order of steps per recipe;
- Don't incorporate add-ins like funfetti or blueberry (they sink); and
- Once you start, keep going until it's in the oven. Do not at any point leave batter sitting around - bubbles will subside!
RECIPE NOTES 1. Cake flour works just fine with this recipe, but it's marginally better using plain / all-purpose flour (flavour, softness, shelf-life). 2. Caster / superfine sugar is my default for baking as the finer grains dissolve more easily. However, regular white sugar (granulated sugar) will work just fine with this recipe. 3. Eggs - important to be at room temp as they fluff better when whipped which is key to the fluffy texture of this cake. Also, fresher eggs aerate better = better rise. Old eggs don't fluff as well. Quick way to warm up fridge cold eggs - place in a large bowl, cover with warm tap water (just warm, not hot), leave for 5 minutes. Wipe dry (to avoid residual water dripping into bowl), then use per recipe. Large eggs - 50 - 55g / 2 oz per egg this is the industry standard of egg sizes sold in cartons labelled as "large eggs" in Australia and the US. See here for what to do if your eggs are much larger/smaller. 4. Baking powder - dead baking powder is a common problem with cake fails, even if not past the expiry date. Here's how to check yours is still good. Baking soda (bi-carb) won’t make the cake rise quite as well. If you have no choice, then use 3/4 teaspoons of baking soda. 5. Milk - if you sub with lower fat milk then the texture of the crumb becomes a little less tender. Do not substitute with non-dairy milk, such as soy or almond milk. 6. Oil - just 3 teaspoons makes a noticeable difference to the tenderness of the crumb AND keeps the crumb moist for days. 7. Dark chocolate - called semi-sweet chocolate in the US - any chocolate with ~45 - 55% cocoa. Make sure you use chocolate from the baking aisle, not confectionary aisle (only exception is Lindt blocks). Use chips or melts/discs for convenience, or chop up a block. Bittersweet/70% also works, giving a deeper colour and slightly firmer frosting. Milk and white chocolate are too soft, the frosting will be too loose. 8. Cream needs to be 35% fat minimum in order for frosting to thicken as intended. The frosting will be looser if you use a lower fat cream - still spreadable but not pipe-able. 9. Dutch processed cocoa is darker and more intense than regular cocoa. Using regular will give a lighter colour and slightly less depth, but still great, no need to go out of your way for Dutch. 10. Cream cheese - I use Philadelphia, which is firm but softer than some brands. Firmer cream cheese (like Coles brand 🇦🇺) will give you a slightly more stable frosting, still super creamy, so not a bad thing at all - it's actually better if you're wanting to pipe very tall swirls on cupcakes. Tub cream cheese is more spreadable, so the frosting will be softer, fine for spreading and sandwiching, but not ideal for piping. 11. Oven preheating - 30 minutes preheat is recommended to ensure no loss of heat when the oven door is opened. Never use the rapid heat function on your oven for baking, no matter how fancy your oven is! 12. Cake pans - the batter is quite thin so to ensure no leakage, best not to use a cake pan with a loose base or a springform pan. If that’s all you’ve got, then use butter to firmly fill the gap (this should be enough - I had no leakage when I did this) and for extra insurance, try to cut the paper for the base slightly larger so it goes slightly up the wall. 13. Knock out big bubbles - banging cake pans on counter will knock out big air bubbles in the batter that causes unsightly irregular holes in the crumb. It does not burst the tiny bubbles that make the cake rise - they are too small to bang out! 11. Sweetness note - sweeter than Asian cakes, less sweet than typical Western butter cakes. Please do not reduce sugar - 1 1/2 cups is minimum required to make the eggs foamy enough to rise. 12. Different measures in different countries - tablespoon and cup sizes differ slightly from country to country. In most recipes, the difference is not enough to affect the outcome of the recipe, but for baking recipes, you do need to be careful. I've tested this recipe using both US and Australian cups (the two countries with the greatest size variance) and the cakes were exactly the same. So you can have confidence that this recipe can be used no matter which country you are in - only exception is Japan (cup sizes are considerably smaller (200ml) so please use weights provided). For absolutely certainty, opt to use the weights provided (click Metric toggle button above ingredients). Professional kitchens only use weights. 13. Storage - Cakes can be kept in an airtight container or individual wrapped for 4 days in the fridge (or pantry, if it's cool), it has an excellent shelf life. Still great even on day 7. Freezer 3 months, unfrosted. Frosting can be made the day before then refrigerated, give it a quick whip then use per recipe. Once frosted, store in the fridge. Cakes are always best served at room temperature, but this frosting stays creamy even when refrigerated.
Nutrition
Calories: 339cal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 97mg | Potassium: 190mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 434IU | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2mg