Birthday Cake

Yellow Cake:
Ingredients
Unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted 3 cups
Baking powder 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
Kosher salt 3/4 teaspoon
Milk 1 1/4 cups + 3 tablespoons
Vanilla extract 2 teaspoons
Unsalted butter, slightly softened 1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons
Sugar 2 3/4 cups + 2 teaspoons
Eggs 5 large


Preheat the oven to 350º.
Grease the cake pans (2 9in or 1 9x13). Line the bottoms with rounds of baking parchment then dust them lightly with flour. Shake out the excess. Or use Baker’s Joy baking spray that contains both oil and flour, so you don’t have to flour the pan. With Baker’s Joy, put the parchment liner in after you spray the pan.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl combine the milk and vanilla.
Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs gradually, mixing well after each addition, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl often.

Lower the mixing speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture to the butter in 3 parts, alternating with 2 parts of the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix just until it is evenly incorporated. This is a thick, fluffy batter, resembling whipped cream. There should not be any lumps or dry pockets of flour remaining. If the batter has a curdled appearance it has not been mixed enough. Increase the speed to medium and mix for another minute or until it is thick and fluffy.

Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared cake pans (or pour into the 13x9)
Place the pans on the center rack in the preheated oven. Bake them for about 35 to 40 minutes (or 45-55 min for the 9x13) or until the cake is almost ready to pull away from the side of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Cool the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack that has been sprayed with cooking spray or lined with wax paper
Cool completely

Frost as desired (i used my buttercream frosting)

Enjoy!