The best birthday cake recipe

For the last four years I have been developing the perfect birthday cake. It has taken some time to reach this point and if I may say so myself it has come very close to perfection. The goal is of course to make a cake that both children and adults can enjoy despite their usual preferences (be it chocolate cakes, sponge cakes, no cakes, etc.). And now I share my recipe with you so you can enjoy making and serving this awesome cake.

Pyramid cake assembled and ready to
be covered with butter cream

Chocolate cake (Devil's cake)

150 g    granulated sugar
150 g    brown sugar
125 g    soft unsalted butter
2           eggs
260 g    flour
1 tsp     baking soda
1 tsp     baking powder
1/2 tsp  salt
40 g      cocoa powder (sifted)
2 dl       milk


Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°
2. Line the bottoms of two 24 cm round sandwich tins with baking parchment and butter the sides
3. Beat well together in a freestanding mixer the sugar, brown sugar and butter
4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well together.
5. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder together in a bowl. Make sure to sift the cocoa powder.
6. Add the dry ingredients and the milk to the sugar and butter mixture. Best is to do this in three or four steps, adding a bit of dry ingredients and then a bit of milk and the dry ingredients again and so on until the batter becomes smooth and glossy. It can be good to stop the mixer now and then and loosen the batter from the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure every bit of ingredient blends well into the batter.
7. Divide the batter into the two tins and put in the oven for 19-22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. You can also listen to the cake, if you hear a whizzing or bubbly sound then the cake needs bit more time in the oven.
8. Take the tins out and let them stand for a few minutes before turning the cakes out to cool.

Note.

When I make a birthday cake like the triangular pyramid I usually make one and a half recipe because I cut a lot of the cake away when forming it. The cut off can, for example, be used to make cake pins or be assembled into a small leftover cake which can then be decorated with the leftover butter cream.

For the bigger recipe I either use more sandwich tins or one big oven tin (the one that comes with most ovens)

I always bake the cake two nights before the party and assemble it and decorate the day before. This way I buy me some time and I can enjoy decorating it in no rush. 

Simple syrup

250 ml   water
250 ml   granulated sugar


Method

1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring the water to a boil and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Allow the syrup to cool.

Note.

I drizzle the simple syrup over each layer of the cake so it becomes more succulent, otherwise the cake tends to become a bit dry.

Instead of the simple syrup you can also use the syrup from canned peaches or different types of berry juices.

Butter cream
225 gr   granulated sugar
80 ml.   water
6           lightly beaten egg yolks
1,5 tsp  vanilla essence
320 gr   soft unsalted butter
6 tsp     icing/confectionery sugar


Method

1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When boiling lower the heat to a medium and let it boil until all the sugar has dissolved. 
2. In the meanwhile lightly beat the egg yolks.
3. Stir a little bit of the hot sugar liquid into the beaten egg yolks. Then pour the egg yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the sugar liquid while stirring constantly. Let the mixture boil for about two minutes, or until it begins to thicken. Make sure to stir the whole time to prevent the egg yolks form getting lumpy.
4. Take the mixture of the heat and stir in the vanilla essence. Leave the mixture to cool to a room temperature.
5. Beat the soft butter in a freestanding mixer for five minutes, or until it has a lighter color and becomes soft and smooth.
6. Gradually stir in the egg yolk mixture at a medium speed.
7. Sift the icing/confectionery sugar and add to the mixture. Beat for about five more minutes.
8. The butter cream is ready and you can add the coloring you wish to use.

Note.

If the egg yolk mixture gets lumpy you can strain it before adding it to the butter. 

If you stir the egg yolk mixture too early (too hot) into the egg yolk mixture and the butter cream becomes almost soupy you can save it by keep on beating the mixture.
This butter cream recipe is the same as given on the Allt í köku website in Icelandic.
This butter cream is essentially what is called french butter cream. For another method (with images and all) on how to make this butter cream you can follow this link.

The final outcome

Assembly

Chocolate cake

Simple syrup

Apricot jam

Butter cream

Method

1. Cut the chocolate cake into its intended form.
2. Drizzle some of the simple syrup over the bottom layer.
3. Spread the bottom layer with apricot jam.
4. Spread butter cream on the bottom of the next layer and join the two layers. 
5. Repeat 2 - 4 for as many layers as you have on your cake.
6. When the cake has been assembled cover the cake with a thin layer of butter cream. It is good to use a flat steel spatula to get an even surface. 
7. Decorate the cake at will with the rest of the butter cream and candy.

Enjoy!