The Distinguished Guest Birthday Cake

I flipped through an old vintage cookbook to find one of my favorite birthday cake recipes. A light and tender white cake filled with an easy almond-studded butterscotch caramel, topped with smooth mocha buttercream.  A cake made for a “Distinguished Guest” as Martha Meade suggests is indeed also perfect for a Distinguished Birthday.

Forgotten in my shelves piles of cookbooks was a cookbook from 1934 titled 50 Cakes for 50 Occasions.  How the cookbook made its way to hide in my collection of cookbooks I’m not sure, but I suspect I’ve been moving it from state to state, home to home for the past decade or so.

This past month, I’ve turned my New Orleans home on it’s very head, painting the inside and thus, take every book off its shelf and piling them all, rather unceremoniously, in the center of the house.  Undoing that mess has been no small feat and required friends to talk me past the overwhelm.

Karlee was the first of those friends in my very messy home, taking a few deep breaths with me and starting to unpack.  One of the first things she picked up was Martha Meade’s vintage cookbook.  You know how other people’s stuff is much more interesting that your own?  Yea.  She asked where I had gotten this book and I looked at her as though it had just dropped from the heavens.  She flipped through it, made a comment about how sweet it was and handed me another hefty stack of book to complete the kitchen cookbook shelf.

Days after Karlee left I went looking for that little cookbook myself, found it, and was newly delighted by its charm… the charm that had somehow been on my shelf all along.  The patina of the pages, the handwritten notes on the back cover – it’s got feel.  Each cake is made for an occasion like, for example, nights when you welcome a Distinguished Guest to your home.  What would you possibly serve them aside from this two layer white cake, almond caramel, and mocha buttercream?  Nothing less would do.

Which brings us here. The New Orleans house is mostly put back in order and, even though we need no excuse for cake, IT’S MY BIRTHDAY. Aside from all that, I consider myself The Distinguished Guest of my very own home so we made THE CAKE, babes.

And because eating birthday cake on other people’s birthdays is the true gift, may I humbly suggest you make this cake, too.  Here’s how!

I made a few changes to Martha Meade’s original 1934 recipe.  Just a few.  The recipe as detailed below stays pretty true to the classic!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to bring together one of the most distinguished birthday cake recipes we have here on Joy the Baker:

•  cake flour, sifted

•  egg whites from four large eggs, whipped to stiff peaks

•  granulated sugar

•  unsalted butter

•  vanilla extract

•  boiling water

•  baking powder

•  sea salt

•  vanilla extract and a tiny splash of almond extract

•  whole milk

•  brown sugar

•  roasted almonds, chopped

•  powdered sugar

•  cocoa powder

•  strong coffee

The undeniable truth about white cake made from scratch is that the most tender crumb comes from first whipping egg whites to stiff peaks, then folding them into the cake batter.  It’s an extra step, yes.  Is there a way around it?  No, I’m afraid not.  Surrender to the extra bowl.

In a clean and dry bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites to stiff peaks.  They should hold their shape and be almost crunchy cloudy (which is not a technical term but perhaps should be).  Add the air incorporated into the egg whites will translate to the cake batter, lending structure and tenderness.

The egg whites aside, let’s talk about the dry ingredients, namely:  cake flour.

Cake flour in important for this cake because of its lower protein content (about 10% as opposed to all-purpose flour’s 11+%).  The lower protein will make for a more tender crumb.  My favorite cake flour is from King Arthur Baking and worth keeping in the fridge for birthday cakes alone.  My mom always had the classic red Swan’s Down Cake Flour tucked on the side on the fridge and it’s an old standby, to be sure.

And no, cake flour doesn’t really need to be stored in the fridge as though it will spoil.  It’s just not a commonly used flour in my kitchen and I keep it fresh (and sneaky bug free) by storing it in either the fridge or freezer.

When it’s time to bake, be sure to sift cake flour as the fine grain makes it more prone to clumping.

With the egg whites whipped and the flour sifted (whew… I know), cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed using the paddle attachment.  Add vanilla extract and that tiny splash of almond extract.

Slowly beat in the flour mixture along with the milk.

And lastly, for this classic vanilla cake batter, fold in the egg whites in three batches.  The first batch will feel clunky and awkward because the texture of the two components are so different but by the third batch of egg whites, the batter will feel fluffy and aerated.

Divide the batter between two prepared 8-inch round baking pans (though 9-inch rounds will also do and make for slightly thinner cake layers).  By “prepared” I mean, a greased, floured pan with the bottom lined with a parchment paper round for extra credit.

Bake the cakes in the upper third of the oven until puffed and bouncy, and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean.

I like to let my baked cake rounds cool slightly in the pan for 15-20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.  It’s easiest to remove the cakes from the pan if they’re still slightly warm.

For best frosting results, wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. They’ll be more sturdy for frosting.

Let’s talk about this caramel filling because the recipe as written in this old-school cookbook is… unique (if not a little unhinged).

Think:  a homemade caramel sauce thickened like Thanksgiving gravy and laced with toasted almonds. Got it?  A little strange but with a few tweaks, I decided to mostly trust in Martha Meade.

Start by mixing together melted butter and flour into a thickish paste.

In a small saucepan, melt together brown sugar and melt until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble at the edges of the pan.  Over low heat, stir in the butter and flour mixture and watch the whole caramel thicken.  Stir in the vanilla extract and chopped almonds.

Consider this butterscotch caramel a weird and wonderful delight.  Allow it to cool to room temperature before filling the cake.

Look at these glorious air pockets in this springy little cake layer!  Too good.  Let’s assemble this cake (assuming you whipped together the mocha buttercream frosting).

Trim the top of the cake to create a level surface.  For extra credit, spoon some of the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip to create a border that will house the caramel.

Spread on the nutty butterscotchy caramel and smooth to top.

Top with the additional cake layer and cover the entire surface of the cake with a thin layer of mocha buttercream.  The flavor is out of this world – you’ll want to eat this frosting by the spatulaful.

Because it’s my birthday and I am the Distinguished Guest – sprinkles.

I like to give the frosted cake a chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before slicing.  It’s like letting the freshly made bed settle before hoping in for the night.  You can’t make the bed and immediately unmake it by getting inside! In the same way you can’t cut into a cake moments after it’s been frosted. I don’t know where these truth came from but they’re spot on.

Slice into generous wedges and take the fork to the tip. That’s the best bite.

Martha Meade charmed with this, one of my new favorite birthday cake recipes but oh oh oh do I have more.  If you’re in need of birthday cake inspiration, consider:

My Best Chocolate Cake  //  Everybody’s Yellow Birthday Cake  //  Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting  //  A sweet little Lemon Curd Crumb Cake  //  Funfetti Birthday Bundt Cake  //  Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake  //  12 Frosted Cupcakes with just one stick of butter  //  My Favorite Easy Strawberry Sheet Cake

All my love to you, friends!

xo Joy

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