Made for my Kiddo 100th day from birth celebration....

About Cake:


Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape. Determining whether a given food should be classified as bread, cake, or pastry can be difficult.
Modern cake, especially layer cakes, normally contain a combination of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter or oil, with some varieties also requiring liquid (typically milk or water) and leavening agents (such as yeast or baking powder). Flavorful ingredients like fruit purées,nuts, dried or candied fruit, or extracts are often added, and numerous substitutions for the primary ingredients are possible. Cakes are often filled with fruit preserves or dessert sauces (like pastry cream), iced with buttercream or other icings, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders or candied fruit.
Cake is often the dessert of choice for meals at ceremonial occasions, particularly weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays. There are countless cake recipes; some are bread-like, some rich and elaborate, and many are centuries old. Cake making is no longer a complicated procedure; while at one time considerable labor went into cake making (particularly the whisking of egg foams), baking equipment and directions have been simplified so that even the most amateur cook may bake a cake.


Vanilla Cake Recipe:

Ingredients:


3 cups (345 grams) sifted all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated white sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of coconut extract
1 cup (240 ml) room temperature milk

Confectioners' Frosting:


4 cups (460 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of coconut extract
2-4 tablespoons milk or light cream
Assorted food colors (if desired)

Method:


Vanilla Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) with rack in center of oven. Butter or spray with a non-stick vegetable spray, two 9-inch x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) cake pans . Then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper, then spray the paper.

2.In a bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat the butter until soft and creamy (about 1-2 minutes). Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture (in three additions) and milk (in two additions), beginning and ending with the flour.

3.Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Bake 27 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in center. Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool, in their pans, for about 10 minutes. Then invert the cakes onto a greased rack. Remove the parchment paper and re-invert cakes so that tops are right side up. Cool completely before frosting.

Confectioners Frosting:


1. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

2.Add about 2 tablespoons of the milk and beat to combine. Then, on high speed, beat frosting until it is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes).

3. Add more milk or powdered sugar, as needed, to get the right spreading consistency. If desired, color the frosting with food color

Assemble:

 1.Place one cake layer (bottom side facing up) on your serving plate and spread with about 3/4 cup (180 ml) of frosting.

2.Place the other cake layer (bottom side facing up) on top of the frosting and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting.

3. Place some of the frosting in a piping bag and pipe a decorative border around the top of the cake (I have used a Wilton star tip Number 18). Cake can be covered and stored at room temperature for several days.

Serves 10-12 people.