Best Birthday Cake!

Today is my good friend, Debby Vis’s birthday! She had my husband and me over to dinner last week to celebrate and made some fabulous short-ribs. I must get her recipe so I can make them myself and share the recipe with all of you. They were really sweet, tender and delicious. I made her favorite cake…

Happy Birthday Debby!

I found the recipe on this site: https://preppykitchen.com/1448-2/. Unlike the author of this blog, I am not a big-time baker so am always a bit trepidatious when undertaking a cake. John had some wonderful tips including using “cake strips” to keep your cake from rising in the center. I bought them online and they really worked. You soak the strips at least 5 minutes in water and then wrap them around your cake pan.

Ingenious! I am not sure, but believe the reason they work is the moisture makes the cake bake more evenly without rising in the center. John’s recipe calls for making 3 layers in 6″ cake pans. I had 8″ pans only. He recommends if using 8″ pans to double the recipe, but that seems like a lot of cake to me so I made his proportions and poured into two 8″ pans. He also recommends weighing flour, sugar, etc. so you know he is a REAL baker. I used measuring cups, fluffing flour and leveling off with a knife. In case you are weighing, I will include his weights. Here’s the recipe..

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (200 g)
1 cup granulated white sugar (200 g)
1 tsp. baking powder (4 g, heaping)
1/4 tsp. baking soda (1 g, heaping)
3/4 cup unsalted butter (171 g), room temp. (I used Kerry Gold, my favorite!)*
3 egg whites, room temp
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (15 mL) Note: Tablespoon; not teaspoon
1/2 tsp. salt (3 g)
1/2 cup sour cream (120 mL), room temp
1/2 cup whole milk (118mL), room temp

* 3/4 cup butter is 12 Tbsp. or 1 1/2 sticks American butter. If using Irish Kerry Gold, keep in mind that the measurements are different as it is packaged differently.

I love how shiny the batter is!

Preparation:
Butter and flour three 6″ pans or two 8″ cake pans. Wrap the pans with damp cake strips, if using. Preheat over to 340 degrees. Note: 340 degrees; not 350.
Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the wet ingredients together. Add the wet to the dry and mix until combined. John’s tip–do not worry if you see little chunks of butter in your batter. They will melt as cake bakes. Divide the mixture evenly into cake pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until the centers are set and springy.
Let the layers cool in the pans for about 4 minutes, then dump each layer onto a cooling rack.

Ingredients:
1 lb. confectioners sugar (454 g)
2 sticks unsalted butter (226 g), room temp
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (118 mL)
1 tsp. vanilla (5 mL)
Pinch of salt
Drop of food coloring, if using. I thought making the frosting pale pink would be very “girly”.

John decorated his cake with a huge peony. Very lovely. I used fresh strawberries and raspberries.

Beautiful!

Preparation:
Beat the room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar, vanilla, food coloring and heavy cream. Mix together until a desired consistency is reached. Transfer to a piping bag. I did not do this. I simply frosted the cake, but here is what John recommends…Pipe buttercream between cake layers. Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting.
If using a flower to decorate, wrap the stem with floral tape.

Killary Harbour, in the village of Leenaun. Ireland’s only fjord.