Cake. Vanilla Cake. Layers upon layers of vanilla cake, with vanilla buttercream frosting. Then, topped with fresh strawberries and a hint of dark chocolate.
How can you say no to that?
You can’t really.
Thus, we have Vanilla Layer Cake, baked especially for a birthday celebration, and topped with adornments, just because.
Vanilla Layer Cake
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
½ tsp. sea salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk temperature preferred
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
1 lb. salted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 lbs. powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbs. vanilla extract
fresh strawberries
dark chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two deep 8″ round cake pans (or 9″) by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing the sides. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer) cream together the butter, canola oil, and sugar until creamy and well-combined.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer) cream together the butter, canola oil, and sugar until creamy and well-combined.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in the vanilla extract.
In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Using a spatula and gently hand-mixing, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined after each addition. The batter should be smooth and completely combined, but avoid over-mixing.
Evenly divide batter between the prepared cake pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes. When the cake is done, the surface should spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean with few moist crumbs.
Allow cakes to cool in their cake pans for 10-15 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack to cool completely before frosting. Before frosting, slice each cake through the center to end up with a total of FOUR layers.
Stir in the vanilla extract.
In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Using a spatula and gently hand-mixing, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined after each addition. The batter should be smooth and completely combined, but avoid over-mixing.
Evenly divide batter between the prepared cake pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes. When the cake is done, the surface should spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean with few moist crumbs.
Allow cakes to cool in their cake pans for 10-15 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack to cool completely before frosting. Before frosting, slice each cake through the center to end up with a total of FOUR layers.
Using the stand mixer again, beat the butter until soft and smooth. Add about 2 cups of powdered sugar and continue to beat until immersed. Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
Using a large spatula, frost each layer evenly.
Once, frosted, decorate with strawberries and chocolate, as desired.
