Vanilla Birthday Cake

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For The Cake
• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 t. salt
• 2 t. baking powder
• 4 large eggs (room temperature)
• 2 C. granulated sugar
• 1 T. vanilla extract
• 1/8 t. almond extract
• 1 C. milk
• 4 T. butter (cut into cubes)
• 1/3 C. vegetable oil (I used Canola)
For the Frosting
• 8 T. unsalted butter (room temperature)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 T. meringue powder (optional--increases strength of the frosting)
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 3 C. confectioners' sugar
• 2 to 4 T. milk

Instructions

For the cake
1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Your oven rack should be positioned in the center of the oven. Prepare two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans by greasing them and lining the bottoms of the pans with parchment. Grease the top of the parchment, too.
2. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and almond extract in the bowl of your stand mixer using the whisk attachment. Beat at medium high speed for about 2 minutes. You want the egg mixture to thicken and be light in color.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Mix just to combine at a low speed. Be sure to use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and then mix again briefly to be sure all the flour is incorporated into the batter.
5. In a microwave or in a pan on the stove, heat the milk until it simmers. Remove the milk from the microwave (or from the heat on the stove) and stir in the butter and oil. Keep stirring the mixture until the butter has melted.
6. Slowly mix the milk mixture into the egg/flour batter until everything is well combined. Be sure to scrape the bowl to be sure everything is combined.
7. Pour batter into your two prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees F. for about 38-42 minutes if you are using 8-inch pans or 26-30 minutes if you are using 9-inch pans. Test the cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the centers of the cakes. ( The toothpick should come out clean with no batter sticking to the toothpick. You can also check your cakes by using a digital thermometer inserted into the center of the cakes. The thermometer should read 205 degrees F is the cake is done.)
8. Remove the cakes from the oven, run a knife around the edges to loosen the cakes from the pans and let the cakes cool on a rack for about 15 minutes. Once the cakes are cool, turn them out of the pans and transfer them to a rack to cool to room temperature before frosting.
For the Frosting
9. Beat butter in the bowl of your stand mixer until it is fluffy.
10. Add the salt, meringue powder (optional) and vanilla. Beat to combine.
11. Add the confectioners' sugar and 2 T. of milk. Beat until the mixture is smooth, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl while you are mixing to be sure you have incorporated all the sugar.
12. Add additional milk (or confectioners' sugar) to adjust the consistency of the frosting for easy icing and piping.

Nutrition

Calories

6145 cal

Fat

177 g

Carbs

992 g

Protein

35 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

Vanilla Pound Cake With Apples

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 C. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 T. heavy cream
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste)
• 3 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 3/4 C. superfine sugar (I blitzed granulated sugar in my blender)
• 1 1/4 C. cake flour (sifted after measuring)
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. kosher salt
• 1 medium Granny Smith apple (peeled, cored and thinly sliced)
• 1 T. powdered sugar (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan by lining it with parchment. Us a long enough piece of parchment so that you have parchment "handles" hanging over the long sides of the pan. Those "handles" will help you remove the cake from the pan after the cake has cooled.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk in cream and vanilla extract (or paste). Take pan off heat and let butter mixture cool to room temperature.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, whisk eggs and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes on medium high speed until the mixture has thickened and is a light lemony yellow color.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Once the egg/sugar mixture is ready, gradually fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture by hand using a spatula. Then, take several large dollops of this batter mixture and stir it into the room temperature butter mixture. Next, fold all of the lightened butter mixture into the batter. Continue gently folding the butter mixture into the batter until everything is completely combined but, at the same time, being careful to fold gently. Keeping as much air in your batter as you can by gently folding the ingredients together will yield a lighter crumb in your cake.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Arrange thin apple slices across the top of the batter in two rows and bake for 50 to 60 minutes in your preheated 350 degree F. oven. Your cake will be done when the top is a pretty golden brown, is firm when you press on the top and when a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
6. Remove cake from oven and let it cool (in the loaf pan) on a rack. Garnish with powdered sugar. This is a light and very tender (and delicious) cake. Slice it only after it is thoroughly cooled and use a serrated knife. Slice the cake slowly and carefully because this is a very tender cake. I thought the flavor of this cake was best on the second day.

Almond-Apricot Cake With Creme Fraiche

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 C. cake flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 1/4 C. granulated sugar
• 1 C. almond paste (9 ounces)
• 6 T. unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 6 eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 t. pure vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste--it includes vanilla seeds)
• 4 large apricots (halved, pitted and cut into 1/2 inch wedges) (I also used a few slices of yellow nectarines. You could substitute in any stone fruit.)
• Creme fraiche for serving
• Sliced almonds for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare a 9-inch springform pan by greasing it thoroughly and flouring it.
2. Mix cake flour (I used King Arthur Flour cake flour) with baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Set up your standing mixer with the paddle attachment. Add sugar and almond paste to the mixer bowl and beat the ingredients until they are combined and the texture is "crumbly." (This is a sweet cake. You could reduce the sugar to your taste.) Add the room-temperature butter and beat at a high speed until the mixture turns light in color and a little fluffy. This will take about two minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Beat after the addition of each egg and scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add vanilla extract (or vanilla paste). Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, gently folding the flour into the sugar mixture until it is fully incorporated.
4. Spoon the batter into your prepared springform pan. Add sliced apricots (and optional nectarines) by placing them on top of the batter in the pan. They will sink into the cake as it bakes. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until the cake is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
5. Remove baked cake from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Loosen the cake from the pan by running a knife around the edge of the pan and remove it from the springform pan. Let the cake cool for another 30 minutes on a rack.
6. Serve this cake either warm or at room temperature. Top it with creme fraiche, slices of fresh apricots and sliced almonds.