Surprise Birthday Cake
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
- Birthday Cake with Hot Pink Butter Icing
- Ingredients
- For the cake:
- * 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- * 3 cups sugar
- * 6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- * 8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
- * 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- * 1 lemon, zested
- * 3 cups all-purpose flour
- * 1/3 cup cornstarch
- * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- * 1 teaspoon baking soda
- For the frosting:
- * 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- * 3 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted
- * 9 tablespoons milk
- * 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- * 14 drops pink food coloring (rose petal shade)
DIRECTIONS
- Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan, a 6-inch cake pan, and a 3-inch cake pan.
- To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Mix well.
- Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth.
- Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed.
- Proportionately divide the batter between the 3 cake pans.
- Smooth the tops with a spatula, and bake as follows: the 9-inch pan for 45 minutes, the 6-inch pan for 35 to 40 minutes and the 3-inch pan for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean in each cake.
- Cool in the pans to room temperature.
- For the frosting, cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
- Mix on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until thickened.
- Add the food coloring and turn the mixer off.
- Using a spatula, fully incorporate the color into the frosting.
- Frost each cake separately.
- Chill the cakes before stacking.
- Place the 9-inch cake on a plate.
- Center the 6-inch cake on top of the 9-inch cake.
- Center the 3-inch cake on top of the 6-inch cake.
- For the decoration, pipe or spoon the remaining frosting around the base of each cake and around the top edge of the 3-inch cake.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
My birthday was the other day and Dan my son made a cake for me. Ina Garten made this cake awhile ago on her show the Barefoot Concessa. Hot pink icing three layers, looked really good. Well, Dan decided to give it a try and make it for me. It was a lovely surprise and was delicious. Makes getting old worth while. :)