Bake a vanilla sponge cake for your child’s birthday
Forget expensive bakeries and custom-made birthday cakes. You can make your child a vanilla sponge cake without the added fuss (or cost).
Having your child’s birthday cake custom-made can be pricey and is often a waste of money. Here’s how to make a simple (and affordable) vanilla sponge cake your child – and her friends – will love!
Keep is simple
When it comes to cake flavours, we’ve all gone a little wild trying to add gourmet twists to absolutely everything and forgetting the sweet goodness of the basics. For your minimalist cake, stick to one flavour. Chocolate or vanilla are easy basic and you could even use cake mix to get it right. The shape of your cake should also be simple; a single-tiered cake in an uncomplicated shape. The traditional circle and rectangle, and if you’re being fancy you can make a heart.
Get frosting
For the best minimalist effect, limit your buttercream colours to three, but you can even get away with less. Keep your message short and sweet, even using shorthand like HBD instead of writing out happy birthday. Not only does it complete the minimalist look, but it’s also just easier.
Easy vanilla sponge cake recipe
Ingredients
- 200g sugar
- 100g of butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 190g of flour
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 200ml of milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Grease and line your cake tin(s).
- Cream 200g sugar and 100g of butter together until pale and fluffy. Beat in two eggs, one at a time, until combined. Stir in two teaspoons of vanilla extract.
- Combine 190g of flour and two teaspoons of baking powder. Beat into the butter mixture.
- Stir in 200ml of milk until smooth.
- Transfer to the prepared tin(s) and bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean
Basic buttercream recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients together and beat until smooth. Add milk slowly with a teaspoon if you need to thin it out. To colour your buttercream add a few drops of food colouring. liquid colouring will give you a pastel colour, for vibrant colour use gel colouring.
