The Classic Birthday Cake!

I love to bake! I'm often bringing a baked treat in here to share at TW, and I've ended up in charge of birthday treats. My latest baked goodie was for Brad's birthday, May 4th. Turns out that Brad is a very traditional kind of guy, when it comes to delicious baked goods anyway. I made sure to ask him ahead of time what he'd like. (No, really, Brad. I'm not saying you're picky. Really.) He said his favorite was yellow cake with chocolate frosting.
You know what? Sometimes simple is great. I chose a recipe from a recent issue of Cook's Illustrated Magazine that promised very fluffy cake and no-fail, simple frosting. It was a big hit! (Brad even said it was the best he'd ever had!)

Fluffy Yellow Cake


2 ½ c. (10 oz.) cake flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
1 ¾ c. (12.25 oz.) sugar (divided into 1 ½ c. and ¼ c.)
10 Tbsp. (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 c. buttermilk at room temperature
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks and 3 large egg whites at room temperature

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9” round cake pans, lining the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1 ½ c. sugar in a large bowl.
3. In a 4- cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and yolks.
4. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy. With machine running, gradually add remaining ¼ c. sugar; continue to beat until stiff peaks form. (They should hold peaks, but appear moist.) Transfer to bowl and set aside.
5. Add flour mixture to now-empty mixing bowl. Keep using whisk attachment. With mixer running at low speed, gradually pour in butter mixture and mix until almost incorporated, about 15 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Beat batter again, until fully incorporated.
6. Using rubber spatula, stir 1/3 of whites into batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.
7. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans. Lightly tap pans against counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any air bubbles.
8. Bake until cake layers begin to pull away from sides of pans, and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 min. Remove cakes and peel off parchment paper. Allow to cool completely on wire rack, about 1 ½ hours.

Chocolate Frosting
You may use milk, semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate for this frosting. I used milk chocolate because that was what Cook's Illustrated recommended for frosting the Yellow Cake above. It was delectable!


20 Tbsp. (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 c. (4 oz.) confectioners' sugar
¾ c. Dutch-processed cocoa
a pinch of table salt
¾ c. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. Chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

In food processor, process butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt until smooth, about 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add corn syrup and vanilla and process just until combined, 5- 10 seconds.
Enjoy!
P.S. I want to make sure I give credit and thanks to my "blog mentor" Kelli Matthews of Verve Northwest. This is my first venture into the blogosphere, and she has really helped me out with explanations, advice, etc.!
Amy Miller- also of Verve Northwest- set up the awesome template and does beautiful graphic design work for Tin Woodsman.
Thank you Kelli and Amy! :)