Birthdays.

I baked this classic moist butter cake for a birthday recently. It’s truly a feather-soft crumb with a light vanilla flavour, which works well with most buttercream flavours and fillings. The classic buttercream is made from a sugar syrup, so it’s deliciously silky smooth and devoid of that awful tooth-aching sugar crunch you get with some frostings. For an ‘adult’ flavour, I whipped melted dark chocolate and espresso into the buttercream. And for extra naughtiness there’s an optional 25-35 ml of liqueur. Fan-freakin-fastic idea!

I know a few people who are loathe to celebrate their own birthdays. It’s like meeting someone who doesn’t like chocolate. Denying an opportunity for cake? WHAAA? I understand not wanting extra attention, and the sentiment that we should care for others all year round not just on one designated day. But birthdays, in a way, are for other people too. It’s an opportunity to express, “hey, I’m glad you’re here in the world, and glad you’re a part of my life”.

Birthdays are a celebration of being alive. An opportunity to reflect and think, what have I accomplished in another year on this earth? And that can be really awesome or a really crappy thought. Like if we had good intentions for change 12 months ago, and then nothing is different. Been there. Birthdays can trigger some deep introspection: why am I here another year? What’s my purpose?

Life without meaning is a rotten feeling, in my experience. I’ve been soul-searching, and realised that meaning is not static but dynamic, evolving as we evolve. One day we think we’ve got it sorted, then life changes and we realise the goalposts might have changed too. Worse is that there’s no rules, no guarantee that the pattern that works for someone else will also work for you.

I haven’t got it all figured out, but part of what gives my life meaning is Doing Good. I’m proud that The Cake Mistress also exists to raise funds for charities. And I’m totally proud of a cool Aussie lady, Cate Bolt, doing jaw-dropping things to change this world. The latest initiative, The Giving Bowl is about “giving without going without”, and is super-easy  to get involved in. Just round up your spare change each day and put it into a bowl. When it’s full, give the contents to a worthy cause. That’s it!  (The cute bowl below is from The Giving Bowl’s Etsy store, by the way)

Hands up who’s whinged that their wallet is too heavy from all the damn change in it. Yup, I have. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve deliberately spent loose change on, say, my fourth but-i’m-pinging-off-the-walls-already coffee of the day. Or the chocolate bars on sale – two for $3 man, I’m a sucker for a special. Someone else can benefit instead, while I save my blood pressure and thighs. Win-win guys!!

Seriously, it’s a great initiative. Check it out. xx

 

YELLOW BUTTER CAKE WITH CLASSIC BUTTERCREAM

 

Cake:
6 large eggs, separate the yolks and whites, room temperature
242 g Whole Milk, room temperature (just under 1 metric cup)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
240 g Plain / All Purpose Flour
60 g Cornflour
300 g Caster Sugar
20 g Baking powder (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)
5 g Salt
170 g Unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

Classic Buttercream:

6 large Egg Yolks
200 g Caster Sugar
118 g Water
454 g Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature

Optional: 25-35 ml of liqueur flavour of choice.
NB. Best to have an electric mixer to assist, and a kitchen/candy thermometer.

Buttercream Flavours
Chocolate: beat in 180 g melted dark chocolate to the finished buttercream
Mocha: beat in 180 g melted dark chocolate and 2 tablespoons dissolved instant espresso coffee

 DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 180c (160c fan-forced/ 350F). Grease and line two 20cm round cake tin with baking paper.

Weigh your egg yolks, and add as much egg whites to them to weigh a total of 112g. (I had around 75g of egg yolks with 6 eggs). Beat lightly together to combine, along with 1/4 cup of milk and the vanilla.

Sift the plain flour and cornflour together at least three times over (we’re making “cake flour” here) into a large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the caster sugar, baking powder and salt, blending on low speed until evenly mixed. Add 3/4 of the milk, and the softened butter, again blending on low until the dry ingredients are evenly coated. Crank up the speed to medium, and beat for 90 seconds.

Scrape the cake batter down the sides of the bowl. Pour in the egg mixture a third at a time, beating for 20 seconds each time. Scrape the sides again.

Pour half of the batter into each cake tin. Smooth the tops. Bake together for 25 – 35 minutes. If you have a small oven like mine and they’re squeezed onto one rack, you might need to rotate the cakes 3/4 of the way through so they both bake evenly.

The cake is done when the top springs back when lightly pressed at the centre, and a skewer comes out clean. The cake will start shrinking away from the sides of the tin, but this should happen after it’s removed from the oven. Leave them to cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes (it’s delicate when hot). Run a knife along the sides of the pan to loosen any stuck cake from the sides, then remove from the pan to cool on a wire rack, right side up.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream. Beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer until thickened and pale. In a small saucepan, add the sugar and water. On medium/high heat, gently stir the mixture constantly until it comes to a boil, then STOP STIRRING. Leave it to continue boiling until it reaches just under 115c/238F. Get the beater going on medium speed, pour the sugar syrup slowly down the side of the mixer bowl, avoiding the beater blades (or you’ll get spun sugar and gritty crystals!). Beat on high speed until incorporated and the side of the mixer bowl is cool (we don’t want to melt the butter when we add it). When room temperature cool, gradually beat in the butter on medium speed, and beat in any flavourings.

You’ll end up with more buttercream than necessary to frost this cake, but that’s alright. Lay down one cooled cake layer onto your serving plate. Slather a thick even layer of buttercream with a spatula. Place the other cake layer on top. Add more buttercream on the top and down the sides of the cake. Slap on messily with a spatula for a cool effect, or smooth it down.

NOTES:

The unfrosted cake can be wrapped and kept 2 days in an airtight container, 5 days refrigerated, or 2 months frozen. But best eaten the day it’s baked.

Adapted from The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Available from The Book Depository.