Birthday Cake Recipe – From Scratch

Step 1

Using a stand mixer, combine butter and coconut sugar and mix on medium-high speed with the paddle attachment until combined. One by one, add in each egg while mixer is running. Add vanilla. Turn off mixer.

Step 2

Use a fine mesh strainer to sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour flour mix into the stand mixer bowl while it is slowly running and stop when it’s just combined. Scrape down sides and run another 2-3 seconds. Turn off.

Step 3

Grease 3 x 8″ cake pans and use 8″ unbleached parchment cake rounds to help prevent any sticking. Or, for a larger, 2-tiered cake, use 2 x 10″ cake pans. Pour cake batter evenly into each cake pan. Bake at 350F for approximately 18-20 minutes. Fork should come out clean, but do not over-bake or cake will get hard. Keep an eye on it as oven temperatures do vary. The top should be lightly golden, but not brown.

Step 4

Remove cake from oven when baked and carefully remove each cake from the pan by using a knife to loosen the sides and then pulling on each side of the cake round to lift the cake out. Place on a cooling rack and ice when cool – about 40 minutes.

Step 5

Prepare icing by whipping butter for several minutes − scraping down as need be. Butter should become very silky, light and creamy. When the right consistency has been reached, add the vanilla and slowly pour in the sifted maple sugar while mixer is running. When fully incorporated, taste the icing. If you’d like it sweeter, add a little more powdered maple sugar.

Step 6

A cake soak can help add more moisture into your cake if you cooked it a little too long. Use a fork to poke a bunch of holes into top of the cake and then use a pastry brush to brush the milk mixture allover the top of cake and sides.

Step 7

Place first cake on top of a cake round and add icing to the top – spread icing liberally across the top, leaving the side for later. If your cake tops are rounded, you can cut the top off to flatten them with a large serrated knife. Continue to add each cake on top of the next and frost the top of each cake until you have 3 round cakes on top of each other and fully frosted.

Step 8

Next, frost all sides of the cake until the entire cake is covered in icing and looks even. You’re done! Now, you can choose to decorate the cake how you’d like. Here are some dye-free rainbow sprinkles for a classic birthday cake vibe.