Vanilla Birthday Cake

This moist and delicious birthday cake recipe is adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri.

What you’ll need to make vanilla birthday cake

Step-by-Step Instructions

To begin, combine the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Whisk well to combine.

Next, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the egg whites and milk. Be sure the eggs are at room temperature, otherwise your batter may curdle. To warm them up quickly, place them in a bowl of hot water before cracking them. When the butter and sugar are creamed, beat in the vanilla and almond extract, then add one-quarter of the flour mixture and beat on low speed.

Next, add one-third of the milk/egg mixture.

Continue alternating adding the flour and milk mixtures, scraping down the bowl as necessary. The batter will look like this.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the tops.

Bake the layers for 25 to 30 minutes, until they are set and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the layers in the pans for five minutes, then unmold onto racks to finish cooling.

While the cake cools, make the frosting. Begin by combining the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Beat until well combined.

Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.

Then beat in the vanilla and salt.

If the frosting is too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk or cream.

When the layers are cool, frost the cake.

You can spread the frosting smooth, or swirl it casually with a butter knife. Since it’s an all white cake, I like to scatter some festive nonpareils or confetti sprinkles on the edges for color.

Or for a change, try topping the cake with heaps of shredded sweetened coconut — it’s amazing.