Vanilla Butter Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
I am so fortunate to have friends, Barb and Rommel Francisco, who include me when they have Filipino night in their home. The first time I went, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Rommel’s parents were in town a couple of weeks ago and the family pitched in to make one of the most wonderful and memorable dinners I have ever had. I loved seeing Rommel’s mom and aunt in the kitchen cooking together while his dad was outside grilling enough kebabs to feed the entire neighborhood. We sat down to a feast of Lumpia (spring rolls), Pancit (noodles), Kare Kare (oxtail), Menudo (pork stew), Chicken Adobo (braised chicken) Turon (fried bananas), BBQ Pork and Fruit Salad, food as I had never tried before!
I was asked a very simple request; bring a cake for the two birthday men…Rommel and Barb’s father, Arnie. Perfect. Right up my alley! I already had visions of chocolate and decadent decorations dancing through my mind. Until…
Barb said to me, “Rommel likes a very plain yellow cake with chocolate frosting.” Hmmm. I had not baked a yellow cake in eons, so I went to my ‘go-to for everything cake related’ book, The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I knew that I would find exactly what I needed.
Shoshana piped in very quickly that I had to use the chocolate buttercream frosting I worked with for my Giant Heart Cookie I baked recently. Certainly made life easy.
The end result was an extremely moist cake that was not too sweet, which was perfect with the chocolate buttercream. My handwriting is atrocious, to which every teacher I ever had would be able to attest, so I did a few practice runs with melted chocolate on aluminum foil before writing for real on the cake. I strongly recommend doing this unless you have beautiful handwriting.
Because I simply HAD to embellish the cake a bit, I decorated the outside of the cake with several Callebaut Pearls. Not so many as to overwhelm the cake, but enough to jazz it up a bit and try to take away from my handwriting skills, or lack thereof.
My Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting may not have followed through on the Filipino night theme, but it sure did put smiles on the faces of those who ate it. The only sad part of the evening was that it had to end, which means I will have to wait quite some time before I get another chance to relish Filipino night. At least I won’t have to wait as long for a slice of cake!
| Vanilla Butter Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting | Print |
- Vanilla butter cake:
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 cup milk, divided
- 2¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1½ cups sugar
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- Chocolate frosting:
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 2 - 3 tablespoons Callebaut Crispearls Dark
- For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Butter two 9” cake pans and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine egg yolks, ¼ cup milk and vanilla in small bowl and set aside.
- Place flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into large mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Add remaining ¾ cup milk and butter. Mix on low speed until blended and then increase speed and beat for 2 minutes.
- Add ½ of egg mixture and beat until incorporated. Beat in remaining egg mixture.
- Divide batter between prepared pans. Smooth tops.
- Bake in 350° oven for 25 - 28 minutes until cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely. Refrigerate until cold.
- For the frosting:
- Place butter, confectioners sugar, cocoa and milk into large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until blended. Beat on medium high speed for 3 – 5 minutes, until thoroughly blended and fluffy.
- Reserve ⅔ cup frosting to pipe stars and/or swirls around edges of finished cake. To do this, cut a corner off a quart size freezer bag and insert star tip (I used #21) or use a parchment triangle with star tip and fill with frosting. Set aside.
- Use a small metal spatula to scrape between side of pan and cake. Very carefully, move cake pan over low burner on stove to warm bottom of pan. Cover pan with cooling rack. Invert pan. Remove pan and parchment paper. Use another cooling rack to turn cake over. Repeat with second cake pan. Use a serrated knife to level off cake tops. Scrape off excess crumbs.
- Place dab of frosting on cake plate. Transfer one cake layer to plate. Spread 1¼ cups frosting over top of cake.
- Place second cake layer over frosting. Spread remaining frosting evenly over sides and top of cake.
- Pipe stars around top and bottom of cake. Place Callebaut Crispearls on the sides of the cake, gently pushing them partially into cake so they stay in place.
- Betsy's tidbits:
- It is easier to frost a cake when the layers are cold, however, the cakes may also be removed from pans 10 minutes after they come out of the oven. Flip out of pans and cool completely before refrigerating.
- The dab of frosting on the serving plate helps prevent cake from slipping off plate.
- If writing on the cake, a trick to getting your letters where you want them to go is to score the top of the cake with a toothpick. If you make a mistake, simply wipe the top smooth again and start over.
- Store cake in refrigerator but allow cake to come back up to room temperature before serving.
Best birthday cake ever! It was exactly what Rommel likes and sophisticated enough for the serious desserties. Every year he asks me for the same cake and I’d given in to just making a mix because I never found a from scratch recipe that tasted any better. Thank you for making the birthday boy’s night so special and for filling our tummies with such yummy dessert!
Barb,
I am so thankful that you include me, for Filipino night as well as countless others!