Someone asked me recently, “What is the normal birthday cake flavor?” And it really pissed me off! Trends are something I personally like to stay away from for the most part – because classic delicious things are, well, classically delicious. And I don’t want to be that person who tells anyone what they should be eating for their birthday cake. I want to choose my own cake and I want you to choose whatever you want, too! So I truthfully don’t even know what flavors people are going with these days.
There is nothing wrong with getting behind cupcakes (as shown in this post), macarons, or mini-pies when the trend comes along – but your birthday is your special day and you deserve whatever you want. And you’d better have someone make it for you, too! Russell’s birthday is today, and it was so incredibly fun to craft his birthday cake together. We went through some cookbooks, talked about what he likes and doesn’t like, talked about textures, etc. And it was awesome! What he ended up with is a 16-layer crepe cake with chocolate-cashew spread and a sweetened quark mixture. I’ll put roasted cashews on top and something kind of tart to round it out, and I think it will be great.
The point is, I want you to be happy (whether or not I’m the one baking for you). I don’t want you to dive into the birthday cake norms and the unfortunate consequences of getting a yellow cake with chocolate frosting because that is what a food site told you to do. While I love yellow cake with chocolate frosting as much as the next person, I have bad memories related to it because someone I really dislike at this point in life ordered that for her birthday one year. So if so-and-so food site tells me to eat that kind of cake, I’m just not going to do it! Your birthday cake is yours to shape. You should work with your talented local pastry chef, your husband, your kids, your BFF, your whatever – to have exactly what you want. It’s one of the best parts of my job, honestly. I had the pleasure of doing the birthday cake for Candace of the amazing Lovestru.ck Weddings and Events last weekend. I worked with her and her sister to be sure it was exactly what she wanted. Walnut pound cake with vanilla buttercream and sweet corn-milk streusel. Seeing someone so elated about their birthday cake is the best thing in the world.
While I refuse to recommend one particular kind of cake for your birthday, I will say that there ain’t a damn thing in hell wrong with confetti cake. If you want, read about it here. It’s flavored with imitation vanilla and has a rainbow running through it. I love it. I put sprinkles in Russell’s birthday pancakes this morning and it turned regular pancakes into something really spectacular. If only I’d had glitter…
Make a birthday cake or whatever your birthday friend wants. Maybe it’s birthday waffles. Just make it, because you will make their day.
Confetti Cake Recipe
1 3/4 c cake flour
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 3/4 c granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c unsalted butter, cut into lil’ cubes
4 eggs
1 c whole milk
2 tsp imitation vanilla flavoring
1/2 c rainbow sprinkles
Grease two 9″ pans or line 24 cupcake tins. Preheat your oven to 365 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the cubes of butter and let mix until the butter looks like sand in the bowl. Little peas, or smaller. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. Add in the milk and vanilla extract and mix to combine, again. Then fold in the sprinkles. Divide the batter between the pans or the cupcake tins and bake in the preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. About 25 minutes for the 9″ cakes, and about 15 minutes for the cupcakes. Let cool.
Buttercream: You can use anything here. A great confetti cake frosting is featured in this article. I decorated these with marzipan letters and, well, more sprinkles.
Photo Credit: Yay Cake!, Chocolate Cake