We had a birthday in late November. I can't believe this, but I have a child who is now 28 years old. It just doesn't seem possible that he could be this old. Anyways, we had an on-the-day celebration, and we also had a bigger, Saturday night celebration. If a birthday falls on a weekday, I bake a batch of cupcakes for the on-the-day celebration. And then on the weekend, when we all have more time, we have the birthday cake.
This is my all-time favorite, scratch yellow cake recipe, from my mother. I bake this cake for almost every birthday cake I make. Why? It calls for all-purpose flour, instead of cake flour. It never falls. It bakes a nice, slightly-domed top crust (no need to trim to set layers on top of each other). And it doesn't call for baking powder. You can use any solid shortening, but I think butter just tastes lightyears better. The layers can be baked days ahead, wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen. Then thaw on the counter for a couple of hours, and frost.
As my son's birthday falls right as I'm turning my energy towards Thanksgiving, I bake the cake layers in early November, wrap, freeze, then pull out the day before his celebration, to frost. The cake almost seems to improve with the freezing of the layers. I can easily slice the 2 layers in half, horizontally, using a serrated knife, for making a four-layer cake.
By the way, it may seem like a lot of extra work involved in buttering/flouring/lining a cake pan. this is how my mother always prepared the cake pans, and they never, ever stuck to the pan. So I continue to follow her instructions on this.
Here's the recipe for the butter cake.
Supplies:
two 8 X 1 1/2-inch cake pans. I use aluminum cake pans, like my mothers. I found mine at a garage sale, years ago. You can bake in larger cake pans, but the layers will be thinner, and the baking time should be shortened by a couple of minutes.
waxed paper and scissors
cake cooling rack (big enough for both layers)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (or any solid shortening)
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar ***
scant 1 cup milk ***
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Butter and flour 2 layer cake pans. To flour a pan, put 1 tablespoon of flour into the bottom of the buttered pan. Shake from side to side, and tilt the pan, all around, to flour the sides of pan. Do this over the container of flour, tapping the last bit of flour back into the flour canister.
Cut circles of waxed paper to fit in the bottom of each pan. To cut waxed paper, set the pan on a sheet of waxed paper, and use the point of a pair of scissors to "trace" the bottom of the pan's shape. Cut on that tracing. Place waxed paper circles in bottoms of prepared pans.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in salt and baking soda.
In a measuring cup, pour vinegar. Add milk to the 1-cup mark.
Add flour and milk in thirds, alternately, until all is combined. Beat for 2 additional minutes.
Pour into the 2 prepared cake pans.
Bake in the center of the preheated oven, for 28 to 35 minutes, checking just at the minimum time for doneness. To check for doneness, gently press your finger into the center of the cake. The depression should spring back. (In my oven, two 8-inch layers take 28 minutes to bake, no convection/fan.)
When done, place the pans on a cooling rack, trivet or hot pad. Allow to cool 3-5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges of the pans.
Turn the pans over onto the cooling rack. The cakes should come right out.
Peel off the waxed paper immediately, and discard.
Cool the layers completely before frosting or wrapping in plastic wrap to freeze.
***if you do not use vinegar, you can substitute 1 tablespoon baking powder for the 1 tablespoon vinegar plus 3/4 teaspoon baking soda. Then use 1 full cup of milk, in place of 1 scant cup of milk.
For setting layers, if you want a really flat top surface for decorating, then place the top layer, upside down on the frosting covered bottom layer. When I just want a homey-looking cake, I set the top layer, right side up. It gives the finished, frosted cake a slight rise in the center, which can look nice with a simple frosting.
And now I'm hungry for cake!
