There’s no wrong answer when it comes to cakes. To me they’re all beautiful and each one has its signature flavor. But, for many people the quintessential birthday cake is a white or yellow cake. If this is you then you simply must try your hand at a white velvet cake. Unlike red velvet cake, which has food coloring and a touch of cocoa, this white velvet cake is sans coloring and sans chocolate. What you taste with this cake is vanilla and buttermilk, a simple but unforgettable combo.
Unlike many other from-scratch cakes this cake doesn’t keep dry and wet ingredients apart until the end. Instead you make a crumbly butter-flour mixture at the start. Because this method is different to other cakes you want to make sure to beat it with the mixer for a 2 full minutes. For other baking recipes you’d never want to over-mix. But, this one’s a little different.
After the butter is incorporated then you add in the remaining wet ingredients to the batter.
Bake in 2 8″ greased and lined cake pans and until the centers are done. Then you can start on the icing, which is another stunning combo of simple flavors. This is a heated icing recipe where you make something like a roux and then combine it with traditional buttercream ingredients.
If you prefer a plain vanilla butter cream you can find that recipe here. I also highly recommend sour cream frosting for a cake like this. Although the texture isn’t as thick as other frostings, it’s incredibly smooth. You can find that recipe here.
It’s best to ice cakes while both the icing and the cake are cold. This is a professional trick that many people at home don’t know. If the cake is even a little warm then it can melt the icing. With this cooked icing you need to make double sure every element is cool before you begin.
FOR THE CAKE:
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, at room temperature, divided
1/2 vegetable oil, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
FOR THE FROSTING:
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
