July is seriously birthday month in our house.  Between friends and family I swear we've got about 10 birthdays during the month.  My love letter idea seems to have worked and my 'Dear Heat' has relented at least enough for me to bake just a little.
Admittedly, when it comes to actual food (you know that stuff that gives your body the crap it needs to survive and not just sugar) I'm totally and completely uninspired right now.  I'd much rather be making ice cream or.... cake.  Weird.
Cakes has been up and down for me over the last year or so.  I've been finding that some are just plain gross (i.e.  too sweet, too dense, too wet... gross) and I'm feeling a little hesitant and even anxious to just go out there and try something new these days.  I saw this cake and thought it sounded too good to be true.  Here's the thing... it's that good.
Yup.  That's right,  I looked my anxiety square in the eye and went ahead and made the cake.


So, let's just talk about birthdays for a while.  I'm the birthday Queen when it's my birthday.  I'd seriously take the day off if I could.  I start thinking about what I want and what I want to do months before the actual date.  I'm realising though that I've got a complete double standard.  I don't do well with other people's birthdays.  I'm really bad at doing the whole gift thing.  I don't enjoy it.  I don't know what to get.  I agonize over whether it's the right thing or not.  I wonder if they're just going to hate it.  Shopping is generally not my thing so... I'm not the greatest friend to have if you want elaborate, crazy crap for your birthday.
What I will do is make stuff for you though.  You'll probably get a cake (if you ask for one or happen to let slip what your fave is).  You'll get some homemade jam or rhubarb sauce (coming soon).  You might even get some cookies too.  My BFF requested bread... so I'm making her bread... and vanilla cupcakes. In fact, I'll make pretty much whatever you request.  You might also get a magazine or something totally lame that I saw and randomly thought of you.  Yeah, it's pretty wacked.


I made the awesome looking vanilla cake into a rainbow/marble thing that was pretty cool.  We all thought that the whole thing was seriously beyond.  The whole thing became like an art project for Kid #1 and #2 - getting the colour just right, mixing it and then blobbing it into the pans.  All in all, great cake, great texture, great colours and a great birthday.


Rainbow Birthday Cake
adapted from Sweetapolita
makes one 2 layer cake

6 large egg whites (approx. 6 oz) at room temp.
1 cup milk
2 1/4 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp (6 oz) unsalted butter at room temp and cut into cubes (I didn't really do that part though)
yellow, blue and pink (or red) food colouring PASTE  (i.e. not the liquid stuff)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour (use parchment as well if you like) two round 8 inch cake pans.
In a bowl combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup of the milk and the vanilla.  Set aside
In a larger bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix together well.  Add in the butter and 3/4 cup of milk (I used a hand mixer here) and mix for a couple of minutes.
Add in the egg mixture in 3 batches mixing for about 20 seconds after each addition.
Divide the batter into 4 bowls (I filled the white bowl with a little more of the batter).  Mix a little bit of the paste into each bowl - NOTE:  it won't take much to get a vivid colour so start small, I use the tip of a chop stick - until you get the desired colour.
Plop the batters into the prepared pans.  I kept my plops all separate and then used a chop stick to swirl them just a little bit.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.   Place them so that the tops are up.  Cool completely.

Whipped Vanilla Bean Icing

13 oz unsalted butter at room temperature and cut into cubes (whatever)
3 cups sifted icing sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 vanilla bean scraped
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt (I forgot that bit)

Using a mixer whip the butter for quite a while, until it's pale and creamy.
Add all remaining ingredients and mix low for a minute and then step it up a bit.  Keep mixing until the icing is light, fluffy and creamy.
Use as quickly as possible.
Frost the cake by starting with a thin layer of frosting over both layers.  Chill for about 30 minutes until it sets.  Then frost the cake as you normally would.  This will prevent any crumbling from happening (Nice trick, eh?).
Store at room temp for up to 2 days, fridge for 5 days.