Paul and I share birthdays. Not just birthday months, or birthday weeks, but the actual DAY. And today is OUR birthday! And I have finally made the poor guy a birthday cake. Too bad I made him wait 4 years for one.

great recipe for yellow layered birthday cake!

You see, I have been a stickler (read: big brat) about it the past few years because who wants to make a birthday cake on their own birthday?! I've been waiting for him to make me one...hint hint. But that would require him making me a cake on HIS birthday too! It's really a lose lose situation. First world problems, right? But I have finally come around to the fact that we will forever share birthdays, and if I want a cake I'm going to have to make it myself. And you know what? It's kinda nice making your own birthday cake because when you're often making cakes for other people, making what you want is a nice change!

I really do like sharing birthdays with him, despite all the complaining I just did! It's fun, and different. How many couples do you know with the exact same birthday? If you know of any, I'm sure they're awesome.

Paul is a lover of yellow cakes, and I a lover of chocolate anything. So to make us both happy, I made a yellow cake with a decadent chocolate frosting. And I used the least-feminine sprinkles I had, because I was trying to be self-less. ;)

This birthday brings many changes for us. Paul is turning 27, graduating college in 2 weeks, and preparing for his career. I am turning 23, about to transfer colleges, change my major (what is wrong with me?!), move... oh, and did I mention we are engaged??? We're also planning a wedding. We just set our date!!! June of 2016.

And don't even get me started on finals.

So while the future is still unclear, we can still enjoy our special shared birthday in the midst of all the craziness. What better way to celebrate a birthday than this classic combination?

Yellow cake just screams birthday cake, doesn't it?

I adapted my recipe that makes a 8 or 9-inch layered yellow cake here, to make a 6-inch yellow cake. I love this cake. It's soft, fluffy, slightly dense and so delicious. It was meant to be slathered in chocolate frosting. This is a duo that just can't be beat when it comes to classic cake flavors.

I tried chocolate sour cream frosting for the first time. It's definitely different! But really interesting. I'll admit, it takes a bit of getting used to. When it first hits your tongue, it's tangy. But after a second or two it literally morphs in your mouth from tangy, to ultra rich and chocolatey, finishing off a little bitter (I used half unsweetened chocolate). It goes so good with the yellow cake. It's not my new go-to frosting, but it was definitely and interesting switch-up!

If you're not feeling that adventurous, you can always go with fudgy chocolate buttercream, or the best chocolate buttercream frosting.

The cake is a definite winner though, and my go-to for yellow cake recipes!

print recipe

Yellow Cake

by Julia Hampton - Sprinkled With Jules May-12-2015

Fluffy, moist, dense and delicious yellow cake perfect for layering.

Ingredients

2 cups, spooned and leveled cake flour
1 tea. baking powder
3/4 tea. baking soda
1/2 tea. salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tea. vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temp
2 large egg yolks, room temp
1 cup milk, room temp

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 and prepare 2 6-inch round baking pans with non-stick spray and parchment paper. 2. Cream butter and sugar together on high for 5 minutes. 3. Mix in vanilla and eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape edown the sides of the bowl after each addition. 4. In a separate bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 5. Alternately add the flour mixture with the milk into the butter mixture, starting and ending with the flour. 6. Once batter is thoroughly mixed, divide batter between the two pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs. 7. Let cool in pans for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: 4 6-inch layers

print recipe

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

by Julia Hampton - Sprinkled With Jules May-12-2015

Decadent, tangy, and rich. This sour cream frosting is a nice unique change from the normal sugary-sweet frostings.

Ingredients

8 oz. semi sweet chocolate, chopped
8 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 tea. instant espresso powder (optional)
2 1/4 cups sour cream, room temp
1/4-1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 tea. vanilla extract

Instructions

Combine the chocolate and espresso powder, if using, in the top of a double-boiler or in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted. (Alternately, you can melt the chocolate in a microwave for 30 seconds, stirring well, and then heating in 15 second increments, stirring between each, until the chocolate is melted.) Remove from heat and let chocolate cool until tepid. Whisk together the sour cream, 1/4 cup of the corn syrup and vanilla extract until combined. Add the tepid chocolate slowly and stir quickly until the mixture is uniform. Taste for sweetness, and if needed, add additional corn syrup in one tablespoon increments until desired level of sweetness is achieved. Let cool in the refrigerator until the frosting is a spreadable consistency. This should not take more than 30 minutes. Should the frosting become too thick or stiff, just leave it out until it softens again.

Details

Prep time: Cook time: Total time: 20 mins Yield: enough to frost a 9 inch cake

Frosting adapted from Smitten Kitchen.