Every office has the cake girl. You know, the person who brings in goodies and everyone blames them for ruining their diet. This isn't exactly going to come as a shock, but I'm the cake girl of my office. Someone needs to test out my recipes before they get posted on The Spatularettes and as a single gal I don't exactly want 2 dozen cupcakes sitting around my apartment... because I will eat them... ever. last. one. Anywhooooo, one of my favorite things to bake for is office birthdays. The reality of life is that we spend more time with our coworkers in a given week than with our friends and loved ones, so it sure is nice when you can appreciate and even *gasp* LIKE the people you work with. I've been blessed with a truly fantastic group of coworkers and it's fun to celebrate with each other from time to time. Today happened to be a big day because we had not one, but TWO office birthdays.
I had really great intentions of making a cheesecake with homemade salted caramel topping and dark chocolate drizzle. Sounds amazing right? Well it is. But it's also quite time consuming. This week somehow (as my life often does) turned chaotic, so I decided to make something just as nice, but a little less involved. Nothing says birthday quite like funfetti and this recipe I adapted from Annie's Eats turned out to be just what I was after. It's quick. It's easy. It's fun. I'd even go so far as to call borderline elegant. And the birthday guy and girl? Well they loved it, so I think you will too!
INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
-12 Tbs (stick and a half) unsalted butter, at room temperature
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-3/4 cup of liquid egg whites or 6 large egg whites
-1 1/2 Tbs vanilla extract
-2 3/4 cups flour
-1 Tbs plus 1 tsp.baking powder
-3/4 tsp salt
-1 cup milk
-1/2 cup multi-colored sprinkles (I used those little, hard flat ones, but jimmies will work well too)
Whipped Frosting:
-1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbs (3 sticks plus 2 Tbs) butter, at room temperature
-3 cups powdered sugar
-Pinch of salt
-2 Tbs heavy cream
-1 Tbs vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9 inch round baking pans by greasing, flouring, and lining with parchment paper. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Do not skip the parchment paper step. You might get lucky and see your cake slide out easily without it, but I wouldn't take my chances. Definitely not worth the headache in my opinion.
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter for about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and continue to beat until well mixed. About 30 seconds more. Add the egg whites and mix on low speed until well combined. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together into a bowl. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk (about a 1/3 of each at a time) mixing and scraping the bowl after each addition. Once all ingredients have been added, beat the batter on medium speed for about a minute and a half. Fold in the sprinkles with a spatula.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for about 10 minutes before removing them from the pans. Let them cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
I've never made a whipped frosting before but this will definitely be my go to recipe from now on. (Thanks Annie!!) It is incredibly light and airy and spreads beautifully when decorating.
To make the frosting, fit your a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat room temperature butter for about 30 seconds or until smooth. Add all 3 cups of the powdered sugar and the pinch of salt to the bowl and mix on medium speed until it is incorporated into the butter, scraping the sides of the bowl if needed. Turn the speed up a bit and beat the butter and sugar for another minute. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix on low speed until they are well combined. Scrape down the side of the bowl with a spatuala again to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated. Finally crank up the speed to high and whip the frosting for 4-5 minutes. Turn the mixer off once or twice during this process to scrape down the sides of the bowl again. You'll be impressed as you watch the frosting turn into a beautiful white cloud of deliciousness. Chill the whipped buttercream for a few minutes if needed before frosting your cake. This recipe makes the perfect amount to frost a layer cake with some leftover for decorating!
Celebrate we will!!
XOXO,
Tall One
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