60th Birthday Cake

Now, birthday cakes are always about how they look more than how they taste so I went with simple sponge cake for my mum’s. I made a bigger vanilla sponge for the bottom layer and a smaller chocolate sponge for the top layer. I followed the tip for one of my earlier posts: weigh the eggs without the shells and use equal amounts of butter, sugar and flour. I used 4 eggs for the vanilla sponge and 2 eggs for the chocolate sponge. I iced it with vanilla cream cheese buttercream coloured with food colouring paste rather than liquid. It makes a more intense colour. I made little white roses with Mexican paste from a local baking shop – they are quite easy if a little fiddly. I found loads of tutorials on youtube so I won’t post how I made them (unless someone wants me too!). So here is the recipe and the pictures are below and I have to say I am particularly proud of it!

For the vanilla sponge:

4 eggs totalling 205 g, lightly beaten

205 g caster sugar

205 g butter, softened

205 g self raising flour, sieved

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp milk

Heat the oven to 170^oC (gas 3 or 340^oC)

Beat the butter until it’s very soft. This took me maybe a minute or so. Gradually beat in the sugar and keep going once it’s all added until the mix is very pale and light. This took about 5 minutes. Then add the eggs very, very slowly and beat well in between additions. The mix curdled again but not quite as badly as usual. Fold in the flour in about 4 batches. Finally fold in the extract and milk. Pour into an 8 inch deep cake tin (or silicone mould like me) and bake for about 45 minutes or until cooked. Check with a cocktail stick. Leave to cool in the mould for 15 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

For the chocolate sponge:

2 eggs totally 97 g, lightly beaten

97 g caster sugar

97 g butter, softened

97 g self raising flour, sieved, with 3 tbsp removed and replaced with 3 tbsp cocoa powder

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk

Follow the same method as before. Pour the mix into a slightly smaller 7 inch deep cake tin (or silicone mould like me) and bake for about 25 minutes or until cooked. Check with a cocktail stick. Leave to cool in the mould for 15 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

For the cream cheese buttercream:

200 g butter, softened

100 g full fat cream cheese

1 kg icing sugar, sieved

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp milk

Food colouring paste (your choice of colour)

Beat the butter and cream cheese together. Add icing sugar in about 8 batches and beat. Half way through add the extract and the colouring. Use the milk to help add the remaining icing sugar. If the colour isn’t right keep adding it and beating the icing well until you get the right shade. Use the icing straight away.

To assemble the cake I used wooden kebab sticks as doweling rods to hold the cakes together. I literally just cut them to size, pushed them into the bottom cake and placed the chocolate cake on top of them. I used a lazy Susan (an icing turntable) to help spread the buttercream all over the cake. It made it so much easier! I used a slim metal spatula to spread and smooth it and the effect is quite nice. Once it was all covered I pushed in the roses all over the cake. I finished it with a diamante six and zero and some feathers from a baking shop.

Here are the results!

Lizzi :)