Birthday Cakes

It’s been all about birthdays over here this week!

My labor of love for all my sweets’ birthdays is to make a cake. Often it’s mom-made which means mom opens the box and mixes it up with lots of love and makes it look real pretty. But thanks to pinterest, this one is 100% homemade.

Last year for my daughter’s 6th birthday I tried a lavender + white 4 layer cake. It was enormous!

This year, for #7, we decided on a Funfetti Cake. I used the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cake and Buttercream Frosting recipe. Only amazingness comes out of that little place in the West Village so odds are, this one is going to be a hit!

Before I got started, I always set out my ingredients first thing. This makes cooking and baking so much easier. Always read your recipes throughly so you are sure you not only have the ingredients on hand, but also the fine print like room temp. butter which doesn’t mean 30 minutes. It means overnight or several hours to bring it truly to room temp. Baking is like science, one step is off and the results can vary greatly. There is a French term for prepping your ingredients first, mise en place, which means setting in its place. It’s a huge time saver and results in a lot more fun in the kitchen!

I believe the fluffy light sweetness of this cake comes from whipping the butter and sugar until creamy. You mix it on medium for 3 minutes which make it resemble whipped cream.

Am I the only one who forgets to turn down the mixer before adding flour? Sheesh! I feel like I do this every time. Let’s just say, it was NOT a clean kitchen when I was done!

To make a Funfetti cake, I simply added rainbow jimmies to the batter right before putting it in the pans.

After the layers are completely cooled, you can begin frosting. First place small slips of wax or parchment paper under your cake so you don’t mess up your cake plate. Start layer by layer with your crumb coat. Refrigerator in between layers if it’s a hot July day like we had and when the crumb coat is complete refrigerate again for at least 30 minutes to set before completing your final frosting coat.