Homemade Birthday Cake

If you want to swing away from a boxed cake for your next birthday, you’ll love this Homemade Birthday Cake recipe. A classic, vanilla cake that’s moist and rich, just like every cake should be. Top it with a delicious homemade or store-bought frosting for the perfect finish.

Homemade Birthday Cake

I don’t always have time to make a homemade birthday cake, but when I do, this is the recipe I swing for. Sometimes, I’ll get lucky and my kids ask for something like Macadamia Nut Cookies, Peach Pound Cake, or Cinnamon Rolls, and I have less work on my hands.

I truly don’t mind whipping up the homemade recipes, but I’m going to be real with you, it doesn’t happen every birthday. So, don’t feel bad if it doesn’t for you either. We’re all human beings and do what we can. I promise the kids will love it either way.

Tips for Making Homemade Birthday Cake

• Only frost when cooled – You don’t want the cake to even be warm when you frost it. The frosting will melt easily. I often set my cake in the fridge to chill through before frosting.
• Make your own frosting – There are tons of frosting recipes online and they’re all very easy and so tasty.
• Make the cake another color – Food coloring is all you need to make your cake another color to match any theme you might have. You can do the same to the frosting.
• Use store-bought themes to decorate the cake – Does your girl want a unicorn cake or does your boy want Paw Patrol? If you hit up the baking section of your grocery store, they often have cake decorating sets that have premade the theme for cheap. This way, you don’t have to try and mess with fondant and such, which is a whole other animal.
• Go to town with sprinkles – When in doubt, sprinkle it out. Seriously, there are so many sprinkles to choose from, you can do some pretty cool things with them.
• Use a frosting smoother – Using a butter knife or cake spatula to smooth frosting is like punching yourself in the lips. Let’s not do that. A frosting smoother is cheap and will make your cake look professional.

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 1 Hour

Serves: 12-14

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Cake Flour
• 1 ½ Cups Sugar
• ½ Cup Milk (whole is best)
• 1 ½ Sticks Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 6 Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
• ½ Tablespoon Baking Powder
• Pinch of Salt
• Frosting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
3. Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Mix well.
5. Combine the flour mixture, butter mixture, and milk and use a hand mixer to beat until minimal lumps appear.
6. Pour equally into prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
7. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan and cooling fully.
8. Level the top of the cakes, if needed (you can use baking strips around the pans to avoid having to level cakes.
9. Place one cake layer on a cake board and place some frosting on the top before placing the other cake layer on top.
10. Apply the frosting to the entire cake.
11. Top with sprinkles or whatever directions you like.