Birthday Cake

Dear Kayla,

Thanks for finally updating. Took you long enough. It's not like you have school or anything like that taking up your time... (just kidding obviously, so glad you were able to post :) )

Dear Housemate Sydney,

Thanks for having a birthday so I could bake a cake.

So I'm living on capitol hill in a house with 11 other people (15 others if you include the basement apartment). With that many people, someone is bound to have a birthday during the semester we're all together. And since birthdays necessitate a cake, and having a baking blog necessitates ..baking... I baked Sydney's 22nd birthday cake for her birthday on Sunday.
I opted for smitten kitchen's "best birthday cake". With a name like that, how could I not!? And the chocolate sour cream frosting was very enticing. While I loathe sour cream (among other white creamy things..cottage cheese..whipped cream..), I love baking with it.

 It started with a simple yellow cake. 

 The layers actually turned out pretty fluffy and moist
(i have no problem with that word, hope you don't either)

considering I let them bake for 3 or 4 minutes too long
and used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour.

Had I checked the oven at the right time and used cake flour

i'm fairly certain these cakes would have been perfect..

All things said and done, it was a successful and yummy cake.

And all of the intoxicated party-goers thought so too

(not a hard crowd to please..)

I fully intend on baking this cake again.

I want to make it perfect.

The Best Birthday Cake from Smitten Kitchen

Yellow Cake (yields two 9-inch round cakes):

• 4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (again, I used AP flour)
• 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. (I used cooking spray and flour and it worked perfectly)

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. 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

• 15 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant espresso (i used instant coffee. is there a difference? i don't care)
• 2 1/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature***
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup light corn syrup (1/4 C was plenty sweet..)
• 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. 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.


***i did not read smitten kitchen's cooking note about having ROOM TEMPERATURE sour cream and encountered the same issue of the chocolate seizing a little bit. whoops! tasted a-ok though :)