Vanilla Celebration Cake
Yesterday my nephew, Anthony, graduated from pre-K. Have you ever seen a bunch of five-year olds in graduation caps? Cuteness overload.
I thought it would be a fun surprise to bake Anthony a cake to celebrate his graduation and the start of a fun Summer before he enters kindergarten later this year. Anthony has a big sweet tooth, especially for chocolate.
After the graduation and reception in his classroom, my mother-in-law and I headed back to her house while Anthony and my sister-in-law, Lynn, stayed back at the school a while longer to say goodbye to friends and teachers. My mother-in-law and I set the table with pretty china dessert plates and dessert forks. We poured ice cold milk and I placed the cake in the center of the table. I had told Anthony earlier that Aunt Flavia was going to have a surprise waiting for him at "Nonni's" house, so when he walked in, he instantly spied the set-up in the kitchen and made a bee-line to take a closer look. Cake for his afternoon snack! A rareity, but yesterday was a special exception.
I have not been the most focused or motivated in the kitchen these past few months, but when I made this cake, I felt that familiar buzz of energy I get when I am in the kitchen, and the detailed, meditative and organized nature of baking helped to sharpen my focus again. I spent the better part of the day making this cake, not because it is a labor-intensive recipe or has many steps {hardly!}, but simply because I wanted to move at a slower, more methodical pace since recently, I feel like I have been moving through each day at warp speed.
I have been leafing through the pages of Jennifer Perillo's new cookbook, Homemade with Love ever since it arrived in the mail a couple of months ago. I have already read it from cover to cover and then I went back through it to flag all the recipes I want to try, which is practically the entire cookbook! Her Golden Vanilla Birthday Cake was one of the first recipes that caught my eye and got flagged. The method is an unconventional one: wet and dry ingredients are added all at once and the batter is briefly beaten at high speed, all of which runs contrary to how most cake recipes are instructed. But like she says in the headnote, trust her--this will become your go-to recipe for a tender, flavorful yellow cake that is a cinch to pull together. I frosted my cake with a chocolate buttercream, another one of my go-to recipes that can be made the day before to make things easier if you are pressed for time. Multicolored sprinkles added the finishing touch. Because what is a celebration cake without sprinkles?
I decided to name this cake a "celebration cake" since cake is for more than just birthdays. A pre-K graduation is a pretty big deal too and yesterday was definitely a reason to celebrate!
Vanilla Celebration Cake
Adapted from Homemade with Love by Jennifer PerilloJennie's instructions call for two 8-inch round cake pans, but I only have 9-inch and my cakes turned out perfectly. Baking them in 9-inch cake pans will result in thinner layers due to the larger diameter and they may bake just a few minutes less, so set your kitchen timer for the lower end of the cooking time.
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt {fine grind}
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups milk {2% or whole}
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (plus more for greasing the cake pans)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperatureHeat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of the cake pans with some butter. Place a parchment round on the bottom of each cake pan and grease that as well. Lightly flour the bottom and sides of the cake pans, tapping out the excess. Set aside.
In a bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a measuring cup, mix together the vanilla extract and milk.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy over medium speed, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in all the eggs and beat again over medium speed until light and fluffy. Note: Always start your mixer on low speed until the ingredients are mostly incorporated and then gradually increase the mixer speed.
Stop the mixer and pour in the milk mixture and the flour mixture. Starting on low speed, mix until all the ingredients are mostly incorporated and then turn the speed up to high and beat for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat again on high for 10 additional seconds.
Evenly transfer the batter to the prepared cake pans and smooth out with a spatula. Tap the cake pans on the counter to release any trapped air bubbles. Bake the cakes side-by-side in the middle rack of the oven for 32 to 35 minutes, until the tops are light golden and a metal skewer inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool completely before releasing them from the cake pans to frost.
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I can only imagine how cute that would have been! And this cake is perfect for a celebration! Yum!
Flavia, I made this cake for my son's 5th birthday party. It was SO DANG GOOD! This will be my "go to" cake recipe from now on. All the guests raved about it too. It was so moist. Absolutely perfect!!! Thanks for sharing this gem. And congrats to Anthony as well. :)
What a lovely idea! I bet your nephew loved having such a special treat waiting for him at home : )
Congrats to Anthony!! I'm sure he enjoyed his delicious cake!!
This is the cutest cake, I love the sprinkles - so celebratory!
This cake looks and sounds delicious! And congrats to your little (and ADORABLE) nephew! :)
Such a fun surprise for that cute little guy. So nice of you.
Loved it!! You are the best!