Apologies for the fact that this post is a day late. I had all the best intentions of making it in time, but you see, Thursday was my birthday. Yep, a whole year older and absolutely none the wiser! And whilst I had plans in my head to make this cake, let everyone have a piece and then photograph it, things went in other directions. Nevermind, it is here now.
For months I have had absolutely no idea what kind of cake I wanted to make (yes, I make my own birthday cake, because I am a control freak), I even considered not having one at all and forgoing the whole thing.
But really, what is a birthday without cake? I can not understand those crazy youngsters who reach the grand old age of 25 and declare themselves too old for cake. Too old for cake? There is no such thing! Stop taking life so seriously, people! No one will judge you or think any less of you just because you had a birthday cake. It. Is. Cake. CAKE!!
So, on that note (of not taking life seriously) and having left 25 behind several years ago I decided that this year I would have a pink cake. Inside and out. Decorated with pink cake toppers.
I am relenting to / caving in to / no longer suppressing my inner 5-year-old.
Because after all, it’s my party and I’ll have pink cake if I want to.
*Disclaimer – I had not intended for the buttercream to be quite so pink, but hey, it certainly makes you wink!
** Disclaimer 2 – I do not claim to be the world’s best at frosting cakes. They always end up a little tent shaped (especially when the edge of the cake stand has a fluted edge which makes running a cake scraper around the sides a little tricky) but that is what makes them look homemade, right?
PS – I will be posting a little DIY post next week (we’ve not had one for a while, have we?) featuring the star toppers . . .
Pink {to make the boys wink} Birthday Cake
Ingredients:
- 140g butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 175g golden caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 110g rice flour
- 50g ground almonds
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- red food colouring
For the filling:
- seedless raspberry jam
- 110g butter, at room temperature
- 60ml milk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 500g powered sugar
- red food colouring
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 celsius / 160 fan / 350 fahrenheit. Grease and line 2 x 18cm / 7 inch round cake tins.
- Mix the butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Sift in the rice flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt. Stir until combined.
- Stir in the milk and vanilla extract.
- Add a little red food colouring and mix, adding a little more until you get your desired colour of pink. Remember that the colour often fades when the cake is cooked so go a little brighter / darker than you really want. Also remember that you will need less of a paste food colouring than you would if you were using a liquid.
- Divide the mixture between the two tins and place in the centre of the oven.
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the sponge has cooled make the buttercream : place the butter, milk, vanilla and half of the powered sugar into a bowl. Beat until smooth. Add the remaining sugar and beat again to incorporate. Add a few drops of red food colouring to make a pale pink colour.
- Place one cake onto a serving dish or cake stand. Spread approximately a third of the buttercream on the top. Turn the other cake upside down and spread with a thin layer of the  jam. Carefully turn it over and place (jam side down) on top of the first cake.
- Cover the whole cake in a thin layer of buttercream first (known as the crumb coat) then spread the remaining buttercream generously over the top and sides.
© The Pink Rose Bakery 2015
The Pink Rose Bakery 
Your photos are so pretty 🙂
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Aw, thank you 🙂
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Happy late birthday! Hope you enjoyed your day!
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Thank you, it was lovely 🙂
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Revelation! Crumb coat! It makes perfect sense, like putting a mist coat of paint on a fresh plaster wall. Now I know how to stop the cream cheese frosting clotting on the slightly sticky top of my carrot cake! That’s a beeeooutiful birthday cake, and no more or less pink than it needs to be. Happy belated birthday!
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Thank you 🙂
Exactly, like a mist coat of paint, or . . . a bit of poly-filler!!
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