6.01.2010

birthday cake!!

Last Monday was Matt's birthday. We both took the day off, went for a ride on the Tall Ship Windy in Lake Michigan, sat in Millennium Park for the free Ponys show, drank vodka tonics and went out for Thai food. All in all it was pretty great.

Somewhere in there I made a cake. Because you just can't let someone have a birthday without cake! Not even if, say, you're a really awful baker with no electric mixer. Or if the birthday boy works in a delicious bakery, making it a little intimidating. Or even if last year the two of you ended up taking the flat, awful, wreck of a cake you tried to make for him and throwing it out the window at parked cars.

So I sucked it up, did a lot of research, and used a Smitten Kitchen recipe since I know those always turn out awesome. And it worked!  The sour cream frosting was a little... sour. But after we put it in the fridge and it hardened into more of a fudgey texture I really enjoyed it.

Best Yellow Layer Cake
4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken


Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line with circles of parchment paper, then butter parchment.


Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just Incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. (I like to drop mine a few times from two inches up, making a great big noisy fuss.) Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
Adapted from The Dessert Bible


15 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons instant espresso (optional, but can be used to pick up the flavor of average chocolate)
2 1/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
1/4 to 1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract


Combine the chocolate and espresso powder, if using, in the top of a double-boiler or in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted. (Alternately, you can melt the chocolate in a microwave for 30 seconds, stirring well, and then heating in 15 second increments, stirring between each, until the chocolate is melted.) Remove from heat and let chocolate cool until tepid.

Whisk together the sour cream, 1/4 cup of the corn syrup and vanilla extract until combined. Add the tepid chocolate slowly and stir quickly until the mixture is uniform. Taste for sweetness, and if needed, add additional corn syrup in one tablespoon increments until desired level of sweetness is achieved.

Let cool in the refrigerator until the frosting is a spreadable consistency. This should not take more than 30 minutes. Should the frosting become too thick or stiff, just leave it out until it softens again.

6 comments:

Sarah said...

That looks great! I'm impressed. Will you be doing now baking now that you've aced the cake thing? I would like you to get really good at cupcakes.

Unknown said...

I will go back to avoiding baking at all costs after this. Why do we need more than one baker in the family?? It's like if I were to learn to knit- it would just be ridiculous.

Kathleen said...

Mmmmmm... that looks amazing. My perfect birthday cake, in case you were wondering.

Sarah said...

Mary-Claire - would you consider getting really good at decorating cakes?

Kathleen - If you take me to Costco this weekend I'll make you this birthday cake.

mary-claire said...

I seem to remember Kathleen being an awesome cake and cookie decorator. I think the only job left for me is Official Family Sweets Tester (OFST). It'll be tough, but I'll take one for the Runchey team.

Kathleen said...

SJR - It's a deal. Does Saturday work? And I'll admit I'm nervous about sour cream frosting...

M-C - You can be the OFST. I'd like to be the OFCT. Casseroles.