America’s Test Kitchen Birthday Cake Adapted
Sometimes I make up recipes, like this Apple Snack Cake here (SO dang good). Some times I take them from the recipe books that my mother handed down to me like this Orange Cake here. This cake falls into neither of those categories. It is adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen cake magazine. While I have considerable faith in their recipes this one seemed too fiddly to start with. So then I made small changes, I nixed the Cake Flour (like hello these days it’s hard enough to get regular!) and added cornstarch instead. What that does is make the cake nice and tender. I also eliminated the separate whipping of whites. If I am making a cake then let’s be honest I am making enough of a mess and don’t need to wash another bowl! Despite both these changes the recipe still works and it is undoubtedly going to be the only Vanilla Cake I will ever make.
Chocolate Frosting with Melted Chocolate
I am going to confess something. You may find this funny, you may find it relatable. When I was growing up buying chocolate for baking was a luxury. We didn’t do it routinely and for a kid like me who was forever baking I would always use cocoa powder and oil/butter where recipes called for chocolate. It seemed totally natural to me at the time. The only exception I made was this classic Chocolate Mousse . I always bought chocolate for that. Recently I was browsing through my old recipe books and found this recipe for frosting that used chocolate. I do not know why I wrote it down. I certainly did not make it back then, but I thought I’d throw younger me a bone and melt some chocolate. It’s good guys, really good. This recipe does not make a ton of frosting, just enough to pipe the center and sides. That is fine by me because I have noticed that more often than not people will leave the sides anyway. No waste here folks. I do urge you to use a bittersweet or dark chocolate because it pairs so well then with this Perfect Vanilla Cake.
Cocoa Based Frostings I Love
If you are looking for a cocoa based frosting then I have made and liked both this one from Joy the Baker and this one from Add a Pinch. I also think a Vanilla cake is pretty much heaven with a ganache and I have a recipe for that here.
