The Best Birthday Cake {+ a bonus recipe!}

Baby Knives wasn't quite sure what to make of the candles! This past weekend I got to celebrate my 31st birthday with my family and a fe...

Baby Knives wasn't quite sure what to make of the candles!

This past weekend I got to celebrate my 31st birthday with my family and a few friends, it was a fantastic birthday weekend: relaxing and full of delicious food, what else could I ask for? We didn't have a sitter for Baby Knives to go out for my birthday the way we usually would, so we had a night in instead.

I decided to use my birthday as an excuse to make a completely ridiculous, decadent, calorie-bomb of a dish: Pizza Pot Pie. Oh. My. WORD. This thing was insanely delicious and I won't make it again for another year, since I'm pretty sure I gained 5 lbs. just looking at it, but wow what an amazing birthday treat!

Click Here For The Pizza Pot Pie Recipe (courtesy of Oh Bite It)

As if that wasn't enough, I made one of my favorite classic cake combinations: yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It's been my favorite kind of cake ever since I was a kid and this year I decided to make it from scratch. My sister has a cupcake business, so I knew who to call on for the best yellow cake recipe and she definitely delivered a winning recipe!

Molly's Classic Yellow Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, at room temperature
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs, separated, room temperature
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325, grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Set aside. (I used a round of parchment paper in the bottom of each pan since I've had issues with my particular pans, but just use whatever works for you!)
2. 
   
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, then add in the egg yolks and vanilla, mixing until fully incorporated. Set aside.
4. 
   
5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the last of the dry ingredients. Mix until batter is fluffy.
6. 
   
7. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until foamy and thick, then fold egg whites into the batter and mix until incorporated.
8. 
   
9. Pour batter into prepared pans and spread into even layers, tapping them on the counter to remove any air bubbles and to even them out. Bake for 30-40 minutes, then remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in pans for 15 minutes.
10. 
    
11. Remove cakes from pan and place on a cooling rack, cool completely before frosting. My favorite frosting for this cake is classic chocolate!

Printable Recipe for Molly's Yellow Cake