I love birthdays.
There’s cake. ย There’s fire. ย There are smiles and joy.
Birthdays also allow for the possibility of fork candles. ย Pretty brilliant. ย Pretty genius. ย Pretty Fred and friends.
This is Vanilla Bean Birthday Cake batter. ย It’s studded with blueberries, just because.
Vanilla Bean Birthday Cake bakes up beautifully golden with a dense crumb and alluring sweet vanilla flavor. ย Plus blueberries… obviously.
Vanilla Whipped Buttercream. ย Sorta like eating a spoonful of sweet butter. ย Sorta like the best thing on earth.
Berries gosh dang it.
Berries on frosting on cake. ย This is getting good.
And then I whipped the rest of the cake together in a flash. ย Completely forgetting to take step by step photos.
Want to know how to frost a cake? ย I put together a tutorial a few years back.
I like this part.
I really like this part.
I especially like the part where I get to snag a slice of berry cake. ย Holy yumtown.
Big Berry Birthday Cake
makes a 2 layer 8-inch cake or 24 cupcakes
from Organic and Chic
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. ย Butter and flour two 8-inch round baking pans and set aside. ย This recipe also makes 24 cupcakes.
In a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. ย Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure that everything is well mixed. ย Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.
In a small bowl whisk together flour baking powder and salt.
In a separate small bowl combine the milk, vanilla extract and vanilla seeds.
With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk mixture in three batches. ย Start and end with the flour mixture. ย When the batter is just combined, shut off the mixture and thoroughly incorporate the dough with a rubber spatula.
Divide the batter between the two pans.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a pale golden color, and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. ย For cupcakes bake 25 to 30 minutes.
Let the cakes cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool. ย Frost and berry only when cakes are completely cool.
Vanilla Whipped Buttercream Frosting with Rose Water
makes enough to fill and frost one 8-inch layer cake or frost 24 cupcakes
from Organic and Chic
2 sticks (1 cup) organic unsalted butter, softened
1 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup organic whole milk
1/4 cup sifted organic all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons organic vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rosewater
Cream the butter on medium speed, 3 to 5 minutes, in a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer until soft, adout 30 seconds. ย Add the sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. ย Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.
In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup mil with the flour and vanilla extract. ย Whisk together until there are no lumps. ย Over medium heat, slowly add the remaining 3/4 cups milk, whisking constantly and cook until the mixture comes to a low boil.
Reduce the heat to low and continue mixing until the mixture starts to thicken slightly.
When the mixture starts to thicken, immediately remove the pan from the heat but keep stirring. ย After you have removed the pan from the heat, the mixture will continue to cook for a minute or two on its own.
If you overheat the mixture and find that you have some lumps, try to whisk them out with a little elbow grease, or pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. ย Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. ย Place the mixture in the freezer for a few minutes to speed up the process.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly poor the milk mixture into the butter and sugar mixture. ย Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. ย Add the rose water during this final mixing.
158 Responses
This cake would be perfect with a layer of lemon curd with the frosting and berries in the middle!
The cake turned out fantastic!
The frosting… not so much.
What type of sugar EXACTLY did you use because my oh my mine did not turn out the way it was supposed to and adding in the RAW CANE SUGAR I thought, “hmm, that’s odd, don’t frostings usually use confectioner’s sugar?”
Still in the making, but I’m not entirely convinced-
However, the cake turned out absolutely marvelously and hopefully the end result with the frosting will also look better.
Okay- update, the end result of the frosting, though looks a little rustico, tastes delicious and to cover up the fact it’s brown and slightly lumpy (oops!) I added a little bit of red food coloring to give it a light pink color to compliment the berries and my brother commented that its texture is somewhat like whipped cream, which, hey, there are a hell of a lot worse things to go on a cake.
Thanks for the recipe! All in all, an incredibly delicious cake and good (albeit a little challenging) rustic frosting!
I just tried it for tomorrow ( Mothers’ Day) and it didn’t rise.. Any ideas why?
(I live like 500mts above sea level)
Thanks!
This cake is a go-to for me. I’ve made it several times for birthdays, and it’s perfect–always delivering exactly what cake-recipients are hoping for and making me feel like a superhero! Thank you for this!
yum
Can this cake be made in advance? I know some recipes allow for making cake layers a few days in advance, triple wrapping them in plastic and freezing until the day-of (when it gets frosted). Would that be okay here?
You can definitely make this in advance! Like you suggested, just make sure you wrap the layers really well before freezing!
This cake has been requested two birthdays in a row now. My oldest (9yrs old today!!) absolutely loves this cake :) Thanks for the recipe!!
Whats your thoughts on subbing the rose water for lavender syrup or something similar?
lovely! go for it!
Hi! Is this cake very sweet? I want to make it for a BBQ next week but my family doesn’t like very sweet desserts :/
Not at all, I’m always a fan of desserts that aren’t too sweet as well. Hope your family enjoys it!
Hi Joy – I want to make this cake in advance – do you think the layers would freeze ok even with blueberries baked into them? Thanks!
I made this frosting with your Everybody’s Birthday Cake. Yum! Thank you.
Hello! I would like to make this cake for my son’s birthday…would like to know if I can make it with frozen berries instead of fresh. And also can I make it a day ahead and put it in the fridge? Would it stay ok for a day and half in the fridge after its frosted? Thanks so much for this recipe! Ambika
So pretty! I love that you baked berries in the cake. Not too long ago I baked a cake for my berry lover husband. And did something similar. Would love your thoughts!
Do drop by our blog :)
https://kitchenpostcards.wordpress.com/2015/06/28/berry-berry-birthday-cake-a-wine-lovers-cake-stand/
Nice Birthday cake recipe