best birthday cake
Some people find out they’re going to be parents and — you know, after the whole “yay babies!” cheer has simmered down a bit — freak out because they haven’t yet a) traveled the world, b) made their first million, paid off all of their debt and saved up enough for for their little snowflake or c) well, grown up yet. But me, I actually had a moment of panic because I hadn’t yet found the perfect yellow layer cake recipe. And apparently — and yes, probably ridiculously — central to my image of the kind of mom I want to be is not to have to turn to a box of (anyone else ever been perplexed by this wording?) cake mix to get a reliably perfect two-layer celebration cake. It’s the Smitten Kitchen, afterall: People have expectations!
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 10 of 12 ingredients — the other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 10 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Yogurt | 170g plain Greek | 100 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Corn | 1/2 cup kernels (82g) | 77 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Coffee | not in our table | 0 |
| Syrup | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- [
- Some of you have responded that you find the Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting a bit too sour for your tastes. And it is sour, of course, as sour cream is the base. However, if you're looking for an equally speedy dark chocolate frosting more along the lines of a quick buttercream, you might instead wan
- from the
- a spin. It's wonderful.]
- 4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (480 grams) cake flour (not self-rising)
- 2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup, 1/2 pound or 225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups (400 grams) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups buttermilk (475 ml), well-shaken
- 15 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 1/4 teaspoons instant espresso (optional, but can be used to pick up the flavor of average chocolate)
- 2 1/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract