Happy Birthday Mom

So this year for my mom's birthday I decided to do something special and make her a really nice cake. For some crazy reason I decided to tackle a multi layer cake from scratch with icing from scratch. Now, I have made a cake from scratch but it was a while ago and (surprisingly) a huge hit. So the pressure was on (at least in my head) to compete with my teenage self from years ago who had beginner's luck. Well, the problem was that the cake recipe that had been a hit had come in one of those seasonal recipe books that Pillsbury puts in the checkout aisle at the grocery store and it had gotten lost long ago. So I had to hunt for a new recipe. I ended up finding one in (of all places) the May 2008 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray. The recipe is for a Golden Cake with Vanilla Frosting. I was a little nervous because this was the first 2 layer cake I have ever made and it was my first attempt at a butter cream icing (I made cream cheese icing last Thanksgiving). Luckily the recipe is really easy and it all turned out really well. I even picked up some gel icing tubes from the store to do a quick little decorating job. On that note, please don't judge me too harshly on the looks, remember it was my first cake and it is really hard to get the hang of those gel tubes at first. I really want to take the Wilton class, so this hopefully won't be my last cake and they will hopefully look much better from now on.

Golden Cake

From Every Day with Rachael Ray May 2008

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups whole milk
Vanilla Frosting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and milk in three parts, mixing until just incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer the pans to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the pans to release the cakes and invert; let cool completely.4. Slice the cakes into 2 layers each. Stack and frost with the vanilla frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk. Beat at high speed until fluffy, adding an additional 1 tablespoon milk if necessary.

This was how I got the cake the 15 minutes from our house to my parents' house. I was so nervous the entire drive but it made it!