Festive vanilla buttercream birthday cake: The classic for every special day
Festive vanilla buttercream birthday cake: The classic for every special day is a birthday cakes recipe, about 210 minutes total, yielding 12 pieces, medium difficulty.
A birthday cake should not only look good, but also taste wonderful - and ideally everyone should like it! The vanilla buttercream birthday cake is a real classic that sweetens every celebration with its velvety aroma and wonderful creaminess.
Whether for children's birthdays or festive gatherings: with fluffy vanilla sponge cake base and a delicate, not too sweet buttercream, this cake will quickly become the centerpiece of your birthday table. And the best thing: you can decorate them however you like!
The perfect sponge cake base – this is how you can achieve it
The sponge cake base forms the heart of your vanilla buttercream cake. In order for it to be particularly airy and fluffy, it is essential to carefully crack the eggs. To do this, separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. The egg yolks are mixed with sugar and vanilla until creamy. Then carefully fold in the dry ingredients so that the air remains in the dough. Bake the base at 180 °C top/bottom heat until golden yellow - this will give you the perfect base for your cake.
The buttercream is the highlight of this birthday cake - velvety, aromatic and not too heavy. What is important here is the room temperature of the butter and pudding so that the cream does not separate when whipped. Real vanilla gives the cream a particularly delicate aroma and you can vary the sweetness according to your taste. The buttercream is also wonderful for spreading and decorating the cake!
This is how you layer and decorate the cake
Carefully cut the cooled sponge cake base into three even slices. Spread a generous layer of vanilla buttercream between each layer and smooth it all over the cake. For that birthday feeling, you can use colorful sugar sprinkles, fresh berries or small sugar decorations – whatever suits your taste!
Serving tip & storage
The cake tastes particularly good if it is allowed to sit in the fridge overnight, then the base and cream combine perfectly. Take it out about 30 minutes before serving so that the buttercream becomes nice and smooth. Leftovers will stay fresh in the fridge for up to three days – if there are any left at all!
Recipe
Ingredients
- For the sponge cake base:
- 5 eggs (size M)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 180g sugar
- 1 packet of vanilla sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 130 g wheat flour (Type 405)
- 70 g cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- For the vanilla buttercream:
- 500 ml milk
- 1 vanilla pod or 2 teaspoons vanilla paste
- 40 g cornstarch
- 100g sugar
- 250 g soft butter
- To decorate:
- Colorful sugar sprinkles, berries or sugar decorations as desired
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C top/bottom heat. Line a springform pan (Ø 24 cm) with baking paper.
- 2. For the sponge cake base, separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Mix the egg yolks with sugar, vanilla sugar and vanilla extract until creamy.
- 3. Mix the flour, starch and baking powder and carefully fold it into the egg yolk mixture, alternating with the egg whites.
- 4. Pour the dough into the mold and bake for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool and carefully remove from the mold.
- 5. For the buttercream, mix milk with scraped vanilla pod (or vanilla paste), sugar and starch. Bring to the boil while stirring until a thick pudding forms. Allow to cool completely (preferably with cling film directly on the surface).
- 6. Beat the soft butter until creamy. Stir in the pudding, one spoon at a time, at medium speed until you get a smooth cream.
- 7. Cut the sponge cake base into three even layers.
- 8. Place the first layer on a cake plate and spread with buttercream. Put on the second floor, coat again, put on the last floor.
- 9. Spread the cake all over with the remaining buttercream and decorate as desired.
- 10. Chill the cake for at least 2 hours so that it sets nicely.