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- So many birthdays have been put on hold
during this lockdown period, so in this episode,
we're gonna try and give you some birthday cake inspo
for when you actually do get to celebrate.
The cake we're making today is actually pretty famous.
It's from a bakery called Milk Bar.
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And the chef there has actually been on Chef's Table,
her name is Christina Tosi.
The cake looks spectacular
and I'm not well known for my cake decorating skills,
so I am dialing in Mr. Barry Taylor,
our visual design expert.
Hello mate, how are you?
- I'm good!
Now, I'm actually starting to feel a little bit
sorry for Ben.
It's been about a decade since he had a proper birthday.
We keep interrupting his birthday with filming.
This cake looks incredible.
It's the least Ebbers looking cake I've ever seen.
- I was quite interested in doing it,
so that's what he's gonna get.
(laughing)
Okay, first thing I have to make is the sponge.
It's like a rainbow sprinkle sponge.
Her stuff is all about childhood,
so we should get on with it quite well.
Butter, vegetable shortening, a lot of caster sugar
and a little bit of brown sugar,
which I'm guessing is just a little bit of extra flavor.
So I'm just beating the fats and the sugars together
for two or three minutes,
until they're kind of light and creamy.
Okay, eggs go in.
Doesn't say add them one at a time,
so I'm gonna go all in at once.
Oh mate, this is looking silky smooth already.
- Oh yeah, that looks overworked.
- Overworked, oh, does it?
I'm so glad I have an expert here to help me.
That is looking pretty good.
All right, I'm going up to low speed
and we're gonna pour in buttermilk.
I've made my own buttermilk with vinegar and whole milk,
'cause I couldn't find any buttermilk.
And oil, just flavorless oil.
I'm gonna pour in some vanilla extract, as well.
So, we're doing it until the mixture is practically white,
is what the recipe says,
so once they're almost double in size
and now I'm gonna add flour.
Salt goes in and baking powder.
The recipe calls for cake flour.
In the UK, you can't get it,
but it's very low protein flour,
so it makes it really cake-y, so what I did was
mix cornflour into plain flour.
These are all the sprinkles
that are going into the sponge layers.
- That looks unlike any other batter.
- The next step is to put it in a quarter sheet pan.
- What's that?
- So, Americans work in sheet pans,
which is like, a standardized size.
Instead of cooking it into round cake tins,
you cook it as a sheet and then you cut it out.
Yeah, and then what happens is, you make the first layer
out of the offcuts, so it's super interesting actually
and it's a good way to use up waste.
Spread the cake batter
and then another 25 grams of rainbow sprinkles.
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Okay, next step is to make the birthday cake soak.
It's milk and vanilla extract in a bowl, mixed together.
- So, you can drizzle that over the sponge?
- Keeps it moist, delicious, I really like the idea of that.
- The crumb is kind of the next birthday cake element to it,
it's the next backed element and what I think it does
is give a little bit of texture in between the layers,
so I'm imagining a short, crumbly texture,
so it's not just all sponge, it's something to bite into.
Caster sugar, brown sugar, again, flavor.
Flour, baking powder and salt.
- More sprinkles, yes!
- More sprinkles, here we go, they went in
and we're gonna add vanilla extract.
Also, vanilla extract is an interesting one because
Christina purposefully finds low quality vanilla extract.
There's a note saying that she uses two specific brands
because they're what most people relate to
when they think of vanilla.
I dunno if I can get on board with that.
Oil's going in.
So the idea is that this literally just, kind of, like,
starts clumping together in crumbs.
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- Sorry, can we talk frosting for a second?
- We can talk frosting.
- I'm really worried about the frosting.
For me, the frosting gets in the way of the cake, so often.
Like, it's sometimes too sweet and you can't taste,
actually, the cake inside at all.
- I'll be honest with you, I think this cake
is gonna be super sweet.
So what we've got is icing sugar, or confectioners sugar
in the US, we've got cream cheese, we've got citric acid,
we've got salt, we've got baking powder,
which I also think is really interesting.
We've got, well, we've got golden syrup.
It's supposed to be corn syrup,
but that's the closest we can find.
I'm hoping it doesn't color it too much, 'cause, ooh.
We've also got vegetable shortening and butter.
- It has to be clean white.
- It has to be so white, doesn't it?
- It would taste delicious without butter,
you gotta scrap it, it's gotta look great.
- So I'm beating together the butter, the shortening
and cream cheese.
(mixer whirring)
I'm ready to add the glucose and the vanilla.
Right, citric acid, baking powder and salt
and combining that with icing sugar and that's all going in.
It's not looking as white as I might like.
Ah!
- I love watching James flap, it's brilliant.
You all right, mate?
- Here you go.
- That is pretty damn good, yes, yes!
Well done.
(beeping)
- Oh my goodness. - Uh-oh.
- It's burnt, I've burnt Ben's birthday cake.
How did I burn a cake?
- You're serious?
- Yeah, it's burnt, look!
(laughing)
- That's not even a little bit burnt!
- I can save this, don't worry, I can save this.
- Ooh!
Wish I could be there to help.
It's really comforting to see how chefs can make mistakes
as well, like, if it was a normal,
you'd all be screaming at the screen, going
"Ugh, if only a chef was there making it."
No, they're useless too!
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(cheering and applause)
- [James] Invert the cake onto a piece of parchment,
or Silpat.
- [Barry] In one go, keep going, keep going, keep going,
whip it off!
- Oh no, this is, oh no, no!
- Can't we just make a smaller cake?
- No, I kinda like the idea of doing it as she suggests.
It was nice talking to you, but I'm gonna do it.
So I'm cutting just a tiny bit less than the cake tin.
- This is a bold move, 'cause there's no icing
on the outside of this cake at all.
- I know, mate, I know, stop it.
I went quite small on the first one 'cause I was scared
and I went a bit too small and the second one is bigger,
but it's fine, it's fine, because no one's gonna see that.
- Wait, we're making a video on it,
everyone can see your mistake!
- No, no one can see it.
So I have a lot of offcuts.
- This is why he's not a pastry chef,
'cause he keeps going, "It'll be fine, it'll be fine."
They are looking for perfection.
- I can still hear you. - Sorry.
- I have cut two sheets of acetate,
get them really nice and tight in the pan.
Put the cake scraps together, inside the ring,
use the back of your hand to tap the scraps together
into a flat, even layer.
- Just make sure the outside of the cake is pure sponge.
- Dunk pastry brush in the birthday cake soak
and give the layer a good healthy bath of half the soak.
Use the back of a spoon to spread a fifth of the frosting
over the cake.
I was so adamant that this wasn't gonna be stressful.
Birthday crumbs are going over.
Okay, second fifth of frosting over the top of the crumb.
- Whenever I look at you in the kitchen,
you are at your best, until you put a cake,
or a bit of pastry in front of you
and you seem to turn into a normal.
- I wouldn't go that far, my friend.
Layer two, with your index finger,
gently tuck the second strip of acetate
between the ring and the top quarter inch
of the first strip of acetate.
Set a cake round on top of the frosting
and repeat the process for layer one.
Ah, ah!
Okay, this is how it's gonna work.
(exhaling)
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Milk, milk, milk.
- So I'm guessing, again, like, that moisture is there to,
obviously, make it moist, but also it will freeze later on
to help bind everything, potentially?
- Potentially, Barry, potentially.
Yeah, I think I was a little too generous
with the first amount of buttercream,
which is a shame because it means that
the two layers of buttercream might be slightly uneven.
Okay, crumb layer is in.
Carve to get in.
Oh God.
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- I think we're in trouble, mate.
Oh, that's all you got?
Right, let's see how it looks.
Go on, spread it out, see how it looks.
Mate, I think it's okay.
- If I had used one less tablespoon of icing.
A bit neater this time, left all the big crumbs to the end.
- Yeah!
You've done it, you've done it!
- That could've gone better, but it's in there
and it doesn't look bad.
Christina would freeze it for 12 hours
and that just means the acetate comes off really cleanly
and then you can let it come to room temperature
for three hours or so, before you wanna serve it.
I'm gonna try and freeze it for three to four hours,
since that's all I've got
and hopefully that's enough to freeze it,
but it's still edible from the freezer.
- Mate, you should be really proud of what you done,
but I'm not gonna lie, I am nervous for the reveal.
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(bell ringing)
(cheering)
James, are you ready?
- Hey mate, I'm ready.
I've got it out the freezer.
- This bit now, it's all about confidence, okay?
You're a chef, you're trained at this, this is what you do.
- Are you coaching me?
The problem that I have is that because there's a little lip
on the bottom, I'm gonna have to press it into something
to get it out.
- No, you can't use that, that's too small,
the pressure's too focused in the middle.
Can't you get-- - I did it.
(laughing)
- Oh, that was horrible!
- It's all just coming apart.
It's just doing it's own thing.
Right, I'm gonna use the acetate
to lift it onto the cake stand.
- [Barry] Yeah, nice, nice, nice.
- Oh, it's so perfect! - Oh, yes!
Are you happy? - Yes.
- Good.
♪ Have a hap hap happy birthday ♪
♪ Happy birthday ♪
♪ Here's a happy birthday to you ♪
(party horn)
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- Hey, mate. - Hello.
- Now, we know that your birthday's coming up soon
and once again, you're gonna be spending it
in less than ideal circumstances.
- I mean, that's become quite a habit of recent years.
- We know, so we wanted to make this one better
and we've made you a cake!
- Happy birthday, Ebbers! - Happy birthday!
- Oh, excellent! - Yay!
- It looks lovely!
You got me balloons as well!
- [James] Yes, well I got me balloons, but.
- This is like nostalgia all in one, but then made elegant.
That's so cool!
- It should be with you in a few hours.
- Wonderful! - No, Ben, we're serious,
like, we're gonna cut you a slice now
and have it sent to you tonight.
- Shall I cut it?
- Just a thin slither,
'cause lockdown has been doing wonders
for my waist so far.
- No, no, it's your birthday, Ben, it's your birthday.
You must have a big slither.
- [Ben] I wondered why you'd all been so quiet today.
- [James] Ooh, it cuts really nicely, just a thin slither.
- Mate, the journey in making this has been quite intense.
It started with James with unbelievable confidence
and then every five minutes, doubting himself more and more,
right until the last minute where you have this reveal.
- Look at that! - Look!
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- Ooh, that is weighty.
Can you take another little slither off
and just taste it for me? - Yeah, I will.
- [Ben] Nice.
- What I like is the birthday crumb
goes through the whole cake, so you get it in the frosting,
it's in each frosting layer and you get that real crunch
that you wouldn't get with any other cake
and it does feel a little bit nostalgic.
- I am very appreciative, it's the thought that counts
and the courier tuppaware that makes the difference,
so I look forward to it.
- Well done, James.
- I've got a candle here, so when it arrives,
I'll blow that out and try the cake.
- That'll look suitably sad, I think that's a good idea.
- Okay, so now it's over to you guys.
How did we do?
This is the original and this is our version.
Comment down below with your thoughts and also,
make sure you give Ben some love.
Wish him happy birthday in the comments
and give this video a like
and we will see you in the next one, see ya.
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We've also built the Sorted Club,
where you can get tons of foodie inspo
using the Packs Midweek Meal app,
discover and share restaurant recommendations
using the Eat app, listen and contribute
to our Feast Your Ears podcast
and send us ideas for new cookbooks
you'll receive throughout the year.
Check it all out by heading to sorted.club.
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And now a blooper.
Ben, now firstly--
(child crying)
- [Woman] Austin, please.
(laughing)
- I'm just playing with Austin's random toys
while we wait.
(blowing raspberries)