- Hey everybody. It's Natasha of natashaskitchen.com.
And today I'm gonna teach you
how to make the perfect vanilla cake.
This recipe is easy peasy, soft and moist
and perfect for just about any occasion.
It's the ultimate birthday cake, and I want some cake,
So let's get started.
(bell chimes) (table whirring)
Make sure you preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
with the rack in the center of the oven.
Now we're gonna butter two nine inch non-stick cake pans.
Using your pastry brush or your hands, butter the sides
and bottom of the pans.
Next dust, the insides of the pans
with flour tapping out the excess.
(soft upbeat music)
Buttering and flouring the pans will ensure
that the cake layers release easily once they're baked
Set your prepared pans aside and onto the cake batter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups of flour,
one tablespoon of baking powder and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.
Set those aside.
Now in a large mixing bowl, beat together one cup
of unsalted butter with 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar.
(mixer whirring)
Beat that on medium high speed for five minutes
or until the mixture is thick and fluffy
and scrape down the bowl as needed.
(soft upbeat music)
Next add the eggs one at a time beating well
with each addition.
We're gonna add a total of four large room temperature eggs.
Just make sure each egg is well incorporated
before adding the next one.
(mixer whirring)
Next, add four teaspoons of real vanilla extract,
and we're using a homemade vanilla.
I will link to this in the notes.
It's super easy to make with just two ingredients.
Beat just until the vanilla is combined,
then reduce the mixer to medium speed
and add your flour mixture in thirds,
alternating with the one cup of room temperature buttermilk.
(soft upbeat music) (mixer whirring)
You wanna a mix to incorporate with each addition
and scrape down the bowl as needed
then beat until everything is just combined and smooth.
(soft upbeat music) (mixer hummer)
If you used room temperature ingredients,
the butter should be thick and smooth.
If it looks grainy, continue beating for another 30 seconds
or until it's smooth.
Now divide your butter evenly
between your prepared cake pans.
And I like to use a kitchen scale
to ensure that my layers are even.
Our kitchen scale is one of our best use tools
for baking and I will link to the one I have in the notes.
I like to get every drop of that yummy butter.
Now spread it evenly in the cake pans.
(soft upbeat music)
We're gonna bake this in the center
of a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
for 28 to 30 minutes.
(soft upbeat music)
The cakes should be lightly golden in color
and a toothpick inserted
into the center should come out clean.
Let the cakes rust in the cake pans
for 10 minutes before removing them.
You'll notice when it comes out of the oven,
there'll be a slight dome at the top,
but once the cakes have rested, they'll flatten out.
(soft upbeat music)
Run a knife or a thin spatula around the edges of the cake.
Now invert it onto a wire rack
and let it cool completely to room temperature
before applying frosting.
You never wanna frost a warm cake,
or it will melt your frosting.
Once your vanilla cake layers are at room temperature,
you can start your frosting.
To make a vanilla butter cream frosting,
you'll need a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment,
and you can also use an electric hand mixer.
(soft upbeat music)
Beat 1 1/2 cups of unsalted room temperature butter
for five minutes on high speed.
It should be lightened in color and creamy.
(soft upbeat music)
Scrape down the bowl as needed
to make sure your butter is evenly blending.
(soft upbeat music)
After five minutes,
you can see the frosting is definitely lighter in color
and has a whipped appearance. (mixer whirring)
While the mixer is going,
I'll sift together 4 1/2 to 5 cups of powdered sugar.
(mixer whirring)
Reduce the mixer to medium low speed
so you don't end up in a cloud of powdered sugar
and add that powdered sugar,
one heaping tablespoon at a time.
Let the powdered sugar incorporate
between each addition, scraping down the bowl as needed.
You can add the powdered sugar to taste adding more
if you like a sweeter frosting.
Now add 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt
and four teaspoons of real vanilla extract.
The frosting should be pretty thick at this point,
depending on how much sugar you added.
To make it easier to pipe and spread,
we're gonna add three to four tablespoons
of heavy whipping cream or milk,
adding it one tablespoon at a time
until you've reached your desired consistency.
The finished frosting will be whipped and fluffy
with great vanilla flavor.
Now we're ready to frost that cake
and you can make this frosting ahead in the cake layers
if you want to.
Check out the notes in the recipe post on how to do that.
Place your first room temperature cake layer
onto a cake platter.
Add a generous layer of frosting.
I love a lot of frosting in the middle
because it gives height to the cake
and every bite will have a little bit of frosting on it.
Cover that with your second cake layer
and I like to place the bottom side up
to ensure a perfectly even surface.
Clear away any extra crumbs that are on your cake platter
so they don't get stuck to the frosting.
Now we're going to decorate the cake.
There are so many ways that you can change up this frosting
with different flavors and different colors,
and I'll have notes in the recipe post on how to do that.
This buttercream frosting is also really stable,
so it pipes beautifully,
but we're gonna keep it simple today
and just make waves in the frosting.
(soft upbeat music)
My taste tester back here is getting very eager
for a slice of cake and I'm excited for her to try this one.
Frost the top and sides of your cake
and make sure you're using a generous amount of frosting
in order to create those waves later.
(soft upbeat music)
Use a paper towel to wipe away any excess frosting
from the cake platter.
Now I'm just using an offset spatula.
You can also use the back of a teaspoon
to create waves in the top and sides of the cake.
I love this vintage style of decorating,
and now all we need is a little bit of sprinkles
around the edge.
Sprinkles are always fun,
especially if you're making a vanilla birthday cake.
(soft upbeat music)
Here's a quick tip.
Since buttercream is quite soft,
if you refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes,
it'll make it easier to slice.
(soft upbeat music)
(laughs) Who's excited?
(chuckles) Me. (chuckles)
Okay, we are gonna do the taste test.
I can't wait any longer
and I have got some serious cake cravings right now,
but look at how pretty this is.
Nice, and then, because it's been setting in the fridge
for just a little bit,
you don't want it to get completely firm
because the buttercream will get hard in the fridge.
So you wanna let it soften a little bit
when it comes out of the fridge,
but it's just cool enough
where it's gonna be easy to slice
and that's what we're gonna do.
All right, here we go.
Ho, ho, it is so soft going through.
Ho, ho, yum, yum, here we go.
(soft upbeat music)
Okay, now take a look at these layers.
Yum, super soft and moist cake
and that frosting, (chuckles)
it's a winner.
Mmmh, yum.
(Natasha laughs)
Okay, I'm gonna bring it down so I can do this taste test.
I'm pretty excited.
Okay, here we go.
Good bite and that's the frost.
(soft upbeat music)
Mmm, mmm, mmmh.
Yum. (laughs)
You can really taste the vanilla in here in the cake
and in the frosting.
That buttercream, I mean, it's sweet,
but it's not overly sweet, it is just right
and so enjoyable, so satisfying.
Also, you could take this entire cake
and you can freeze it, seriously.
(laughs) Perfect make ahead dessert.
So good and this frosting is stable at room temperature
so it keeps really well.
Great for parties.
Really, this is the ultimate birthday cake.
It is so, so yummy.
And you can decorate it all kinds of ways.
You can change this frosting, add different flavorings,
different food colorings
because it takes those things on really well
and it's easy to pipe.
It stays stable.
This cake is a winner.
I hope it becomes a new favorite for you.
One of those go-to recipes,
and that's what this is. (chuckles)
Oh, before we go, we have another taste tester
who loves cake and is super excited to get in
on this taste test.
Come on over.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
(chuckles) You want cake?
Big piece or a little piece?
- Big piece. - Big piece.
That's a silly question, huh?
Oh, you wanna do it yourself, huh?
- How? - Go ahead.
Oh, you got it, you got it, look at that.
(chuckles) It's a really big.
She really wants that cake. (laughs)
Okay, go for it, honey, go for it.
(soft upbeat music)
The thumb is up.
Did you notice you have frosting on your thumb?
(Natasha laughs)
Was that good, you love it? (laughs)
Two thumbs up or one thumbs up?
Show it to me, show it to me.
One?
Where's the other one?
Come on. - No one.
- Aw.
- Two.
(Natasha laughs)
- Oh, I hope this cake becomes a new favorite for you.
It's one of those go-to recipes.
It's gonna be perfect for every occasion
and we'll see you in our next video.
Say bye.
What's happening there?
- Bye.
- Were are you eating without...
Oh, my goodness. (laughs)
Things just got real.
Honey, you're...
(Natasha laughs)
Let's go clean you up.
(both laughs)