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The Best Birthday Cake Recipe

The Beloved’s lovely boss emailed a few days ago asking if I would make a small birthday cake for one of their coworkers. Of course I said “sure,” because what’s a birthday without a birthday cake? And what’s better for a birthday cake than a 1234 cake? For me, not much at all.

The magical 1-2-3-4 cake bakes up into the most delicious cake that falls somewhere between a pound cake and a “regular” cake in texture.

The cake is sturdy enough to stack and frost for a birthday cake and still tender and moist enough to be enjoyable. You can even carve a 1234 cake (although I suggest chilling it–or any cake–first to make it easier to carve.)

What Is Ermine Frosting?

Ermine frosting is a smooth, not too sweet frosting that is based on a cooked flour-milk-sugar trifecta.

You make an eggless pudding, let it cool, and then whip butter into it until it is smooth, light and fluffy.

Some recipes call for just cooking the flour and milk together, but then you run the risk of the sugar crystals not dissolving all the way when you add granulated sugar.

To prevent this from happening and to ensure your frosting is silky smooth, I recommend cooking the sugar with the flour and milk.

Ermine seems to be the original frosting for red velvet cake, and I have a recipe for vanilla ermine frosting in that post, so I decided to try a chocolate version for this birthday cake.

I figured for an old fashioned cake, an old fashioned frosting is just the ticket.

The first time I made ermine frosting, I used it on chocolate cake, and it is pretty spectacular. It actually may be my favorite frosting for chocolate cake.

OK, back to the cake (along with some lessons learned along the way).

1-2-3-4 Cake Formula

I decided to go with a standard 1-2-3-4 cake recipe. Versions of this cake have been around for decades.

This is an old, old recipe. The amounts of the four main  ingredients are easy to remember, making this an excellent cake formula to keep in your head in case you find yourself in Dire Need of Cake with  nary a cookbook or Hinternets to be found. Here’s all you have to remember:

• 1 cup of butter (2 sticks/8 oz)
• 2 cups of sugar (14 oz)
• 3 cups of cake flour or all purpose flour (13-14 oz)
• 4 eggs (about 7 oz)

You’ll also need

• 1 level teaspoon of fine salt
• 3 teaspoons of baking powder (1 teaspoon per cup of flour)
• 1 cup of milk
• enough vanilla or other extract/s to make it taste delicious, probably 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla

Another thing about the batter for this cake: it tastes exactly the way cake batter ice cream wishes it tasted but doesn’t. If you are a Fan of Batter, make sure you use really fresh eggs, because you will want more than just a Wee Taste.

Tips on Making a 1234 Cake

This recipe makes a Rather Lot of batter.

The original recipe, slightly adapted from Carole Walter’s Great Cakes cookbook calls for this to be baked in a 10″ tube pan.

If you’re going  to  bake layers, you’ll have enough batter to make 2 9″x2″ layers.

Make sure you’re baking in pans with 2″ sides. Those 1 1/2″ jobbies from the grocery store won’t hold it. And if you have any question about whether all the batter will fit into your pans, err on the side of caution and bake a couple of cupcakes, too.

Fill your pans only half full. Trust me. If you do forget and fill them too full, there is help for you. This is the advice I gave folks on facebook yesterday. Behold, it stands the test of time. Because it is still true today.

What Happens if I Have Overfilled My Cake Pans?

You can prevent overflow in the first place by making sure to fill your cake pans only 1/2-2/3 full.

If you overfill them and then realize what you’ve done before you put the cakes in the oven, just scoop some of the batter out until the pans are only full no more than 2/3 of the way.

If, however, your cakes are already in the oven and rising, you really can’t do anything but damage control. Here’s how you do that.

• If your cake batter looks like it’s going to spill over, Do Not Panic. Repeat: Do. Not. Panic.
• Put a cookie sheet under the bottom rack (spray it w/Pam first if you think of it, or line it w/parchment. Don’t worry if you don’t though). This will catch any drips of batter and keep them off your oven floor so they don’t burn.
• Let the cake do its thing and keep telling yourself that the batter in the pan is just fine, because it totally is. Just fine. If the top of the cake starts browning too much, just cover it loosely with a piece of foil and turn the heat down by 25F. Continue baking until the cakes test done.
• Remove from the oven and, using an icing spatula or the back of a knife, trim the overflow off right at the inner edge of the pan. Do this right after you take it out of the oven since the cake will shrink as it cools and you don’t want it to pull away all jaggedy and weird.
• Let the cake cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes and then turn out on racks. Wrap tightly in a couple of layers of plastic wrap and put them in your freezer until cool or even partially frozen.
• Use a serrated knife to trim any crunchy bits off the top (bottom) of your layers, split them if you want, and continue w/icing and decoration.

Pretend the horror never occurred, and pay a neighbor’s kid to clean your oven for you if you forgot to put a drip pan in there.

Have a drink. You’ve earned it. Do NOT let the kid have alcohol unless he can show you proof that he’s over 21.

1234 Cake Variations

There are many ways to switch up your 1 2 3 4 cake recipe. Here are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. I am sure you will think of others.

• Buttermilk cake: substitute 1 cup of buttermilk for the whole milk. Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to your dry ingredients.
• Lemon cake: Add zest of 2 lemons to the butter/sugar mixture, substitute 1/2-1 teaspoon of lemon extract for the vanilla.
• Spice cake: Add 2-3 teaspoons of your favorite sweet spice mix (apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice) or a mixture of spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, etc) to the dry ingredients. Consider using buttermilk in place of whole milk (see the buttermilk cake variation)
• Chocolate cake: substitute 1/2-3/4 cup sifted cocoa powder for an equal amount of flour, use 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar, and use coffee as the liquid. Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the dry ingredients.

Looking for more old fashioned cake recipes? Give my Butterscotch Cake a try. You won’t be sorry!

A Note on Measurements

The majority of my recipes are written by weight rather than volume, although by its nature, a 1234 cake is designed to be made by volume.

Still, I implore you to buy a scale, both for accuracy and consistency. This is the scale I use, love, and highly recommend:

If you like the sound of this classic cake recipe, please rate and/or comment. I love to hear from readers! And if you make this cake, please share a photo with me on Instagram using hashtag#pcorecipe or on the Pastry Chef Online facebook group. I can’t wait to see your version!

1234 Cake with Chocolate Ermine Frosting

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

The Birthday cake childhood dreams are made of, if childhood dreams of birthday cakes include the best yellow cake and the fluffiest chocolate frosting. 1234 cake should be your go-to. You're welcome!

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Ingredients

For the Cake

• 1 cup butter, (2 sticks/8oz)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 Tablespoon best quality vanilla
• 2 cups granulated sugar, (14oz)
• 3 cups sifted cake flour, (13oz)
• 4 large eggs, , lightly beaten
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk, (I used whole milk)

For the Frosting

• 1 cup milk, (I used whole milk)
• 4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons best quality cocoa powder, (I used Pernigotti)*
• 1 cup sugar
• fine sea salt, , to taste
• 2 sticks cool butter

Instructions

For the Cake

1. For the best and most stable emulsion, make sure all your ingredients are at cool room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
3. Spray 2 9"x2" cake pans with pan spray.
4. Line the bottoms with parchment circles and set aside.
5. Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
6. Cream the butter until smooth.
7. Add the salt, vanilla, and sugar and continue to cream until very light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and beater as necessary.
8. With the mixer running, slowly drizzle the eggs in, a bit at a time, until completely incorporated. This should take about 5-6 minutes. Scrape the bowl as necessary.
9. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk: 3 additions for the dry and 2 for the milk, beginning and ending with dry. Do this on low speed and don't take longer than a minute for the whole process. Scrape the bowl as necessary. You may have to finish mixing by folding with a spatula, but that's okay. Better that than over-mixing your batter.
10. Scrape into the prepared pans. Do not fill them more than half full. If you have extra batter, make a few cupcakes.
11. Bake the pans in the center of the oven until they are well risen, firm to the touch and and a lovely golden brown. A tester inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. Depending on your oven and pan size, this could take anywhere from 35-45 minutes or longer, so keep an eye on them.
12. When done, remove from the oven and let sit on racks for 10-15 minutes.
13. Turn out on racks, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and either let come to room temperature or put them in the refrigerator or freezer for more rapid cooling.

For the Frosting

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk the flour and cocoa powder together with a small amount of your milk to form a paste.
2. Add the rest of the milk and the sugar to the pot and whisk over medium heat.
3. Add a heavy pinch of salt and taste. Adjust if necessary. The proto-frosting will be very sweet, but worry not. It will balance nicely when you add the butter later.
4. Bring the milk mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Whisk for another 30 seconds to a minute and then remove from the heat.
5. Pour into a metal bowl to cool. Whisk occasionally until the mixture reaches room temperature. You can speed this up by refrigerating the mixture.
6. Fit your mixer with the whip attachment. Whip the butter until light and fluffy.
7. Add the chocolate mixture, a couple of tablespoons at a time, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary.
8. Continue to whip until light, smooth, and fluffy. This could take an additional 5 minutes or so.

To Assemble (the way I made mine)

1. When cakes are chilled, slice off any dome and reserve as a snack.
2. Slice each layer in half horizontally.
3. Spread a layer of frosting about 1/4" thick on a layer. Top with the next layer and continue layering until you run out of cake.
4. If your frosting is soft and your layers are sliding, wrap the whole cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes so the frosting firms up.
5. Frost and decorate as desired.

Notes

THE CREAMING METHOD

Please watch the video in the recipe card to see the creaming method in action, especially the modified way I make it, beating the eggs before slowly adding them into the batter.

TIPS ON MAKING A 1234 CAKE

This recipe makes a Rather Lot of batter.

The original recipe, slightly adapted from Carole Walter’s Great Cakes cookbook calls for this to be baked in a 10″ tube pan.

If you’re going  to  bake layers, you’ll have enough batter to make 2 9″x2″ layers.

Make sure you’re baking in pans with 2″ sides. Those 1 1/2″ jobbies from the grocery store won’t hold it. And if you have any question about whether all the batter will fit into your pans, err on the side of caution and bake a couple of cupcakes, too.

Fill your pans only half full. Trust me. If you do forget and fill them too full, there is help for you. This is the advice I gave folks on facebook yesterday. Behold, it stands the test of time. Because it is still true today.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE OVERFILLED MY CAKE PANS?

• If your cake batter looks like it’s going to spill over, Do Not Panic.Repeat: Do. Not. Panic.
• Put a cookie sheet under the bottom rack (spray it w/Pam first if you think of it, or line it w/parchment. Don’t worry if you don’t though). This will catch any drips of batter and keep them off your oven floor so they don’t burn.
• Let the cake do its thing and keep telling yourself that the batter in the pan is just fine, because it totally is. Just fine. If the top of the cake starts browning too much, just cover it loosely with a piece of foil and turn the heat down by 25F. Continue baking until the cakes test done.
• Remove from the oven and, using an icing spatula or the back of a knife, trim the overflow off right at the inner edge of the pan. Do this right after you take it out of the oven since the cake will shrink as it cools and you don’t want it to pull away all jaggedy and weird.
• Let the cake cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes and then turn out on racks. Wrap tightly in a couple of layers of plastic wrap and put them in your freezer until cool or even partially frozen.
• Use a serrated knife to trim any crunchy bits off the top (bottom) of your layers, split them if you want, and continue w/icing and decoration.

1 2 3 4 CAKE VARIATIONS

There are many ways to switch up your 1 2 3 4 cake recipe. Here are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. I am sure you will think of others.

• Buttermilk cake: substitute 1 cup of buttermilk for the whole milk. Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to your dry ingredients.
• Lemon cake: Add zest of 2 lemons to the butter/sugar mixture, substitute 1/2-1 teaspoon of lemon extract for the vanilla.
• Spice cake: Add 2-3 teaspoons of your favorite sweet spice mix (apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice) or a mixture of spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, etc) to the dry ingredients. Consider using buttermilk in place of whole milk (see the buttermilk cake variation)
• Chocolate cake: substitute 1/2-3/4 cup sifted cocoa powder for an equal amount of flour, use 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar, and use coffee as the liquid. Add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the dry ingredients.

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• 
  Set of 2 Cooling Racks
• 
  KitchenAid 6 Quart Mixer
• 
  9 x 2" cake pan

Nutrition Information

Yield 12 Serving Size 1
Amount Per ServingCalories 649 Total Fat 33g Saturated Fat 20g Trans Fat 1g Unsaturated Fat 10g Cholesterol 146mg Sodium 636mg Carbohydrates 82g Net Carbohydrates 0g Fiber 1g Sugar 50g Sugar Alcohols 0g Protein 7g

The stated nutritional information is provided as a courtesy. It is calculated through third party software and is intended as a guideline only.

Enjoy the cake, friends!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely day.

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