“Hey kid, what kind of cake do you want for your birthday?”
“Vanilla with vanilla frosting.”
I wasn’t surprised. My kid has been saying that for 7 of his 10 years so far. Then he hit me with the shocker.
“Can you bake it? I like your stuff better than the store.”
“Yea, sure! Thanks, kiddo.”
But here’s the thing, readers, I’ve never baked or decorated a birthday cake. Cupcakes, sure. Brownies, cookies, fudge? Yep. Tres leches cake? Got a couple good recipes for that one. But a birthday cake? With, like, decent icing? Never in my life.
My Kid wasn’t deterred though. To him, mom can bake anything. So I ordered a cake decorating kit, watched a couple Youtube videos for beginners, and took a deep breath.
The Cake
I used a tried and true cake recipe that goes all the way back to 1911 and versions of it became popular during the Great Depression and WWII. Its a sweet sponge cake that, while well received for this occasion, would be better with something like strawberries to cut through all the sweetness.
Hot Milk Cake
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup hot milk
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 tsp of baking powder
To Bake
Preheat oven at 350
Whisk the eggs until frothy – about 7 minutes in the mixer.
Add sugar and cream the two together.
Add vanilla
Add flour 1/2 a cup at a time
Melt your butter in the hot milk (I microwave mine in a Pyrex measuring cup)
Slowly drizzle your milk mix into the cake batter while mixing.
Add your baking powder last, once everything else is mixed.
Pour into your lined baking pans
Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly golden.
A Note On Frosting
I did not make the frosting. I’ve attempted buttercream (the frosting my kid insisted on) twice and both times did not turn out great. I will try again, but not for his birthday. Instead, I bought 2 tubs of vanilla buttercream with sprinkles – the one color concession my kid gave for this particular cake.
I then threw both of these tubs into my mixer with the whisk attachment and made them a lil frothier. This made it easier to spread on the cake but also less stable. Thinking back I should have put the bag of frosting in the fridge to firm up a little more before piping the swirls. Live and learn, I guess.
I don’t know the name of the tip I used for the swirls. The kit did not come with anything like that. Just a bag of tips, couplers, and a stack of piping bags. My hope is to learn more about this in the future.
