Vanilla Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Buttercream.

Who’s ready for cake!?

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And Friday?!?! And celebrations!?!?

Me, me, me, ME!! ?

Over here in my little world, it’s been a big week and a half. First things first, Asher’s eighth birthday. I think the little girl had a pretty fun week. She seemed to love all of her presents and the finale to her celebrations was her Harry Potter birthday party with four of her closest friends. The fun isn’t completely over, come October 1, we will finally be heading off on our trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando (thank you to those of you who recommended Orlando). I must say, I’m pretty psyched to go myself.

Second, BABY goats!!. Oh those baby goats…aka kids, as they’re officially called. These two little goats are the cutest little animals I have ever seen. Like puppies have nothing on them. What’s even cuter though? Watching Layla, their mom, play her motherly role. Since Layla is a first time mom, she didn’t quite know what to do for the first day, but her motherly instincts have kicked in, and now the only time she ever leaves their side is to eat, and even then, it’s never for very long. Watching their bond grow stronger each and every day has been incredibly awesome. Layla will not even let my cat Snape (or Snap or Snappers as Asher calls him) near them. She stairs him down until he runs off. <–for real.

Third, my sixteen year old brother, Red, got his driver’s license. Ahhh, what? How is that even possible? It feels like yesterday that he was the baby of the family. I cannot believe he is driving now…YIKES.

Fourth, this little site of mine is growing and I could not be more exited about it! Woot Woot! 🙂

So you see… it’s clearly a cake kind of Friday… obviously the best kind of Fridays.

OK, so here’s the deal with this cake. Typically I would never bother with a vanilla cake, but my cousin Abby convinced me that a vanilla cake with sprinkles (nonpareils…the round ones) was something I had to make. I’ve had it ingrained into me from a very young age that the only cake worth eating was chocolate. No seriously, I never, ever, ate vanilla cake growing up. I’ve probably only ever had just a few bites before making this cake.

I know, I know, that is kind of crazy, but you just do not know my mom. It’s all chocolate, all the time. The other thing my mom tried to instill into me? Sprinkles = BAD. I think she did this, one, because they messed too much with her pure chocolate on chocolate flavors, and two, because she knew they just added more unnecessary sugar, and three (and probably most importantly), she HATED to have to clean them up. Sprinkles and Nerds (do you guys remember those?) were pretty much outlawed in our house.

Well, I am breaking all the rules today and making a vanilla cake… and even adding (just a few) sprinkles…ooops.

Thankfully, I no longer live at home, and thankfully my mom never saw the ENTIRE BAG of sprinkles I spilled on my pantry room floor. Totally serious, I am forever a klutz.

Anyway, I made a vanilla cake, but since I love my chocolate too, I had to go with chocolate frosting. Like I just couldn’t do vanilla on vanilla. Maybe someday in the future, but just not today. Today needed mounds of whipped chocolate buttercream (again, cause we are celebrating baby goats over here, with more to come any day now!) atop my moist and fluffy vanilla cake!

Alright, so this cake?! Even though it is vanilla. I still LOVE it. It’s fluffy and moist, and has an intense vanilla flavor, which is possibly my favorite thing ever. That moist and fluffy and vanillay cake is the perfect pairing with my favorite whipped chocolate buttercream, like it is SOOOO GOOD!

So good, that even my sprinkle hating, chocolate only, freak of a mother had a piece… and truly enjoyed it!

Um, that’s what I call a successful vanilla cake! 🙂

You may have noticed that I didn’t cover my cake fully in sprinkles…ahh, sorry, but like I said, I spilled them all over the floor. If you have a serious love for sprinkles, feel free to go as crazy as you’d like!

I do actually prefer a cake probably minus the sprinkles. Well, I think just a few can be awesome, cause they’re so fun, but too many and, I dunno, they start to take away from the flavor of the cake. I guess it’s true what they say, like mother like daughter. ?

Ahhh, sooo here’s what I’m thinking, birthday or no birthday, this Vanilla Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Buttercream should probably be made… ASAP… just sayin.

Vanilla Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Buttercream.

4.50 from 136 votes

18 Servings

by Tieghan Gerard

calories 709kcal

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Prep20 minutes mins

Cook30 minutes mins

Total50 minutes mins

This birthday cake is fluffy, moist, and has an intense vanilla flavor,

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 3/4 cup cake flour*
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ▢ 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 2 cups granulated sugar
• ▢ 3 whole eggs + 3 egg yolks
• ▢ 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1 tablespoons vanilla extract

Whipped Chocolate Buttercream

• ▢ 4 sticks (2 cups) salted butter, softened to room temperature
• ▢ 4 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 4-5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter/spray with cooking spray.
• In a medium size bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand held mixer) beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, beat in the eggs and egg yolks. Add the greek yogurt and vanilla and beat until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with flour until just combined.
• Pour the batter among the 3 cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes, until the tops are just set and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool five minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan. Grab 3 large flat plates, line them with wax or parchment paper and invert the cakes onto the paper lined plates. Cover and let the cakes cool completely before frosting.
• To make the frosting, Add the butter and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand held mixer). Beat the butter and powdered sugar together until the butter is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and beat, scraping down the sides as needed, another 2 minutes or until there are no streaks of white. Add 4 tablespoons of the heavy cream and whip the frosting for 2-4 minutes more or until light and fluffy. If desired add the remaining tablespoon of the heavy cream (I normally do) and whip until combined. Taste the frosting and add more powdered sugar if you like a sweeter or thicker frosting. Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a plate or cake stand. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with sprinkles, chocolate curls or whatever your heart desires.

Notes

*if you do not have cake flour, use 1 cup all-purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons. Then add 2 tablespoons cornstarch. This will equal 1 cup of cake flour. Repeat this four times so you have 4 cups of cake flour. Then measure out the required 3 3/4 cups cake flour (reserve the 1/4 cup). **Vanilla cake adapted from Martha Stewart.

Nutrition

Calories: 709kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 292mg | Potassium: 164mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 49g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1.1mg

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.

Cause really, all Fridays should include some kind of cake!