yellow birthday cake

cake ingredients:

2.5 c. all purpose flour

1.25 tsp. baking powder

.25 tsp. baking soda

.75 tsp. salt

1.5 c. sugar (for dry mix)

.25 c. sugar (for egg whites mix)

10 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 c. buttermilk

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 large eggs, separated

cake method:

heat oven to 350 degrees. grease and line with parchment (2) 9-inch round cake pans.

in your biggest bowl, whisk 2.5 c. of all purpose flour, 1.25 tsp. baking powder, .25 tsp. baking soda, .75 tsp. salt, and 1.5 c. sugar together. the america's test kitchen recipe calls for cake flour, not all purpose flour. i noticed no difference. you do you.

melt 10 tbsp. unsalted butter and cool. the microwave is fine. the microwave is your friend.

separate the 3 eggs into 2 bowls. i like to crack the egg on a flat surface and move the yolk back and forth between the shells to let the white fall into a bowl. i separate each egg white in a smaller bowl first and then transfer them into a larger bowl for later with the rest so that if i mess up, i don't have to start over completely.

in a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, 1 c. buttermilk, 3 tbsp. vegetable oil, 2 tsp. vanilla extract, and eggs yolks. i did this in a pourable container for adding to the dry ingredients later. also, i usually don't have buttermilk on hand. what do i have? milk (dairy or non) and apple cider vinegar. 1 c. buttermilk = 1 c. milk + 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar. let sit to react.

in a medium bowl, whip the eggs whites on medium-low speed until foamy for 1 minute. increase speed to medium-high to whip whites to soft, billowy mounds for 1 minute. add .25 c. sugar gradually to mixture while whipping until glossy for 2-3 minutes. i did this in my stand mixer so that i could multi-task. you could do this with a hand mixer as well - might need a friend to switch off mixing. baking with friends is better anyway.

add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients until just incorporated. stir in 1/3 of egg whites mixture completely. fold in rest of egg whites mixture until there are no white streaks. i switched from a whisk to a spatula in order to fold.

divide the batter equally into the 2 baking pans and lightly tap the pans to get any air bubbles out. bake the cake for 20-22 minutes, rotate half way for even baking. let cakes cool completely before icing.

icing ingredients:

1 c. butter, room temperature

2 c. icing sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. food coloring (optional)

icing method:

whip 1 c. room temperature butter with a hand mixer or stand mixer until fluffy and add 2 c. icing sugar. whipping, whipping. add 1 tsp. vanilla extract for flavor, 2 tbsp. milk for lightness, food coloring and sprinkles for fun.