This Vanilla Birthday Cake is a classic vanilla sponge cake with a sweet vanilla buttercream frosting and sprinkles, perfect for any birthday celebration!
This past weekend our sweet little girl celebrated her birthday, so of course I wanted to bake her cake! You may remember the super pink party we had last year for her, but since we’re expecting child #2 in the coming weeks I wanted to keep it a little more low key. In all honesty I had a big party all planned out in my head and then I had a reality check which convinced me it just wasn’t necessary. She had a great time unwrapping presents after breakfast and playing with her new toys, we took her shopping and swimming, it was a good day!
I decided to opt for a small cake for this years celebration since it was just the three of us and grandma and grandpa that live near by. What this cake lacks in size it makes up for in taste and it was pretty darn easy to bake as well. I love layered cakes, they are so much fun and look more impressive than the amount of work they actually are. A classic vanilla sponge cake with a sweet vanilla buttercream frosting and sprinkles was just what this birthday celebration needed. Whether you just want to bake a cake or need to celebrate someone you love, you should give this cake a try – enjoy and happy baking!
Vanilla Birthday Cake
Prep
Cook
Total
Ingredients
for the cake:
- 1 c cake flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 12 Tbs butter, room temperature
- 3/4 c sugar
- 2 eggs, extra large
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
for the frosting:
- 12 Tbs butter, room temperature
- 3 - 3 1/2 c powdered sugar, depends on the consistency and sweetness you are looking for
- 2-3 Tbs milk
- 1 Tbs vanilla
- food coloring, optional
Instructions
- Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350º, butter and flour two 6" cake pans or one large cake pan. In a small mixing bowl sift the flour, salt and baking powder.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer cream the butter until creamy, add the sugar and beat until fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition, then add the vanilla.
- On low speed add the flour mixture and mix to blend.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and the top springs to the touch.
- Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely. In the bowl of your stand mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy, add the powdered sugar 1 c at a time, alternating with the vanilla and milk until your desired consistency is achieved.
- I like to beat the frosting 5-10 minutes for a really fluffy texture.
- Once the cakes are cooled spread 1/4 of the frosting even;y on top of one cake round and
- top with the second cake layer; spread or pipe the remaining frosting over the entire cake and top with sprinkles and decor.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Baby Cakes by Flo Braker
Courses cake, dessert
I love vanilla cake and this one is so pretty! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Rita it was a lot of fun to decorate, simple but cute
I think simple can be really effective – it looks so sweet! Happy birthday to your little girl 🙂
I love baking cakes and this is such a beaut! Thanks for sharing and Happy Birthday to your little!
That looks so tasty!
I absolutely love vanilla cake 😀
This one looks amazing – so simple yet so beautiful.
How much would you need to make a two layer with 9 in pans?
Since I haven’t tried this recipe at the larger size I would recommend doubling the batch. Fill the 9″ pans about half way with the batter and put any excess into a cupcake pan. I would love to hear how it turns out, thanks for stopping by 🙂
So pretty! I love finding reasons to make layer cakes, birthdays or not. Thanks for sharing, Emily.
Thank you Jelli, I love making them too!