Recipe Review: Classic Birthday Cake

Introduction

This is a great introduction to baking a cake. It uses a simple frosting and basic batter so that all of the focus can be on the technique. The resulting cake is delicious, albeit a bit rich for my tastes.

Recipe Outline

Recipe: Classic Birthday Cake	Special Equipment: Stand Mixer, 3 8-Inch Cake Pans
Source: Dessert Person	Time: 4 hours
Author: Claire Saffitz	Difficulty: 4/5
Type: Dessert (Baking)	Score: ★★☆☆☆

Making The Cream Cheese Frosting

Making The Batter

Tip 1: Make sure to periodically scrape the dough in the stand mixer with a flexible spatula – including the bottom of the bowl.

Baking The Cake

Frosting The Cake

Tip 1: Each of the layers needs to be leveled (made flat) so they can be stacked. This takes some practice to get right if just using a serrated bread knife. One alternative is to buy a cake leveler. Another is to set your cake on a spinning cake tin and spin the cake about your knife to cut it evenly. One of the best techniques is slicing evenly through with dental floss. Likewise I’ve seen some place toothpicks in a circle around the cake at the desired height (measured with a ruler) and using them as a cutting guide. Another possibility is using a baking strip to get a level cake from the start.

Tip 2: Use a small offset spatula for frosting.

Tip 3: Be careful to not put all of the frosting in the center of the cake and then spread sideways. That can often result in the layer of frosting at the center being thicker. Make sure to account for this. One way to do this is to evenly apply the frosting about the top of the cake in different spots and then spread evenly.

Final Product

Key Takeaways

• Take your time with each step, especially removing the cake from the tins and cutting+stacking them.
• Make sure you have cake flower, not just all purpose flour.
• Final Score: 2/5 – There are a lot of small technical skills that one has to learn when baking a cake. This recipe is a great way to learn those early so that for future cakes you can focus on the batter and frosting itself. The cake is a great birthday cake, but quite rich.