Back in November I hosted Thanksgiving with AJ and made a huge dinner with all the fixings for us two, my brother and his wife, and their utterly cute daughter (my niece) who I absolutely adore. It also happened to be her second birthday so, of course, I had to make her a birthday cake. After hemming and hawing about what sort of cake to make her, I decided the best thing to do was the straightforward birthday cake that one makes for a child. A white chocolate funfetti birthday cake made from scratch, not the kind you make from a box mix. Luckily I had received a preview copy of the Momofuku Milk cookbook by Christina Tosi and there, in all it’s glory, was Chef Tosi’s version of the funfetti cake, made from scratch: the ultimate child’s birthday cake.
The made from scratch Funfetti birthday cake for my niece.
Of course, when I had initially thought to making a birthday cake for my two-year old niece, I did not think of what she might like. No, being the slightly self-absorbed typical San Francisco food blogger, I started to think about all the “seasonal” recipes I could create for her, the type that would be perfect for this blog! Maybe I could make a gorgeous upside down butterscotch pear cake, or an apple and quince bundt cake with toffee glaze. Maybe I could take advantage of the winter citrus and make a blood orange cornmeal cake or meyer lemon olive oil cake. Winter had just started up and I was falling back in love with grapefruit and pomegranates and kumquats. Gingerbread, peppermint, dark chocolate, all the heavy, beautiful flavors of the holiday season, start peaking around the corner of Thanksgiving, and my little niece was the excuse for me to bring them into the forefront.
My niece seemed obsessed with the pumpkin. Perhaps I should have made her a pumpkin cake.
But then I had to take a step back. Reason kicked in, and I remember that my adorable two-year old niece didn’t care at all for seasonal ingredients or fancy holiday flavors. She wanted cake. Heck she DESERVED a proper straight forward classic birthday cake. So, as the cool gay uncle that I was, I gave it to her. She got her funfetti birthday cake and oh boy was she happy.
My niece blowing out the candles with her two gay uncles.
Turns out my niece now associated her Uncle Irvin with cakes and cookies. True, she still hasn’t quite figured out which one is Uncle Irvin and which one is Uncle AJ (we’re both one single unit to her, names interchangeable) but that’s ok. She still picks up my brother’s calculator, presses a bunch of buttons on it, and then puts the calculator to her ear and speaks into it “Uncle Irvin? Uncle AJ? Cake? Cookie?” like a cell phone. That makes me love her all the more. It makes AJ and Irvin love her all the more in fact.
She loved the cake. What two-year old wouldn't?
So I was thrilled I found this recipe in the Momofuku Milk Cookbook. If you don’t have it, I definitely recommend running out and getting it. Sure there may be a number of recipes that have some difficult ingredients to get ahold of (milk powder, glucose, clear vanilla extract, citric acid etc). However, Chef Christina Tosi really just wants you to be able create her desserts the way she makes them which is why she wants you to use these ingredients. Thankfully she also includes some substitutions (not for the milk powder though – you should just bite the bullet and buy some, you won’t regret it). Though most of the recipes in the Momofuku Milk cookbook are super sweet (she tries hard to replicate the flavors or childhood, which is that super sweet packaged baked goods flavor) every now and then a treat like that, made from scratch without the weird preservative chemicals, is exactly what you need for a two-year old who equates you with cakes and cookies.
Mmmm....cake.
Special thanks goes to Clarkson Potter Publishing for providing me a review copy of Momofuku Milk Bar. Though the book was provided by them, I was not compensated for anything I wrote above and all opinions are my own.
By Irvin LinAdapted and inspired by the Momofuku Birthday cake, from the Momofuku Milk Cookbook by Christina Tosi this cake itself is a slightly more sophisticated in flavor, as I used a white chocolate cake adapted from Sherry Yard’s Desserts by the Yard for the actual cake layers instead of the box cake inspired batter from the original recipe. Technically this cake isn’t COMPLETELY made from scratch, as I didn’t bother to make my own rainbow sprinkles (I didn’t have time, after all, I WAS also prepping for Thanksgiving dinner) but I did use Let’s Do…Sprinklez which are made (mostly) with organic ingredients. It’s the best I could do. That said, the cake is REALLY sweet, so be sure to slice it thinly, as you don’t need a lot of it.
The recipe looks really daunting because it has so many steps. Keep in mind that you can make the cake crumbs earlier and just can keep it, up to a week in an airtight container, or a month in the freezer. Just make sure to cool completely before storing. You can also make the cake layer a day ahead as well, just wrap it (uncut) with plastic wrap to keep it moist. Once you read over all the instructions, you’ll see it’s not as labor intensive as it may seem initially. Still this is one of those special occasion recipes that require thinking ahead, as well as freezing it 12 hours in advance, so you might not just want to make it on the spur of the moment.
Special equipment: 1 6-inch cake ring, 2 strips of acetate, each 3 inches wide and 20 inches long, 2 12 x 17 inch half sheet pans, parchment paper
Cake Crumbs
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated white sugar
25 g (1 1/2 tablespoons) dark brown sugar
100 g (3/4 cup) cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
1/4 cup mild flavored oil (I used canola, but you can use whatever you have on hand)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Cake Batter
260 g (2 cups) cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
85 g (3 oz) white chocolate (please use one made with real cocoa butter)
4 large eggs, separated
1/8th teaspoon cream of tartar
170 g (3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
350 g (1 3/4 cups) granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoon rainbow sprinkles
Frosting
113 g (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter
50 g (1/4 cup) transfree shortening
57 g (2 oz or 1/4 brick) full fat cream cheese
30 g (2 tablespoon) invert sugar, glucose, corn syrup or mild flavored honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
200 g (1 1/4 cup) confectioners’ sugar
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1. Make the cake crumbs by preheating the oven to 300˚F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
2. Place the sugars, flour, baking powder, sea salt and sprinkles in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn to low speed and blend until the ingredients are evenly distributed and uniform.
3. Add the oil and vanilla and mix on low to medium speed until the dough starts to clump up. Pour the crumbs onto the lined baking sheet and spread out evenly. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the crumbs on the edge of the pan start to turn golden brown. The crumbs may be moist while hot, but will crisp up when cooled. Let cool in pan completely before using. Once you pull out the cake crumbs, turn the oven up to 350˚F for the cake.
5. While the cake crumbs are baking, make the cake batter by first lightly spraying a 12 x 17 inch half sheet pan with cooking oil then using parchment paper and then spray that parchment paper and the sides of the pan.
6. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Using a balloon whisk, vigorously stir the dry ingredients until they are uniformly blended.
7. Chop the white chocolate into 1/2 inch pieces and place it in a heatproof metal bowl, fitted over a pot of water. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl. Turn the heat on to high, until the water boils. Then turn off the heat and let the residual heat of the hot water and steam melt the white chocolate (stir occasionally to help it melt).
8. Place the egg whites (reserving the egg yolks for later) along with the cream of tartar in a clean bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the wire whisk. Beat the egg whites on high until they form soft peaks. Slow the mixer down to medium speed and sprinkle 50 g (1/4 cup) of white sugar into the egg whites until the egg whites become stiff and glossy white. Scoop out, and place in a large bowl.
9. Place the butter and remaining 300 g (1 1/2 cup) sugar in the bowl and replace the wire whisk with the paddle. Beat the butter and sugar on high speed for 2 minutes or until the butter is light and fluffy. Scoop out two tablespoons of the butter and mix it into the melted white chocolate, then scrape the white chocolate mixture into the butter and beat on low speed until incorporated. Add two egg yolks and beat until incorporated, then add the other two and repeat. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
10. Add half the buttermilk and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Add half of the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Repeat with the buttermilk and then the dry ingredient again.
11. Scoop out half of the beaten egg whites into the cake batter, and fold it in with a large spatula. Then add the other half and fold it in. Add the rainbow sprinkles and fold into to evenly distribute. Scrape the batter out onto the prepared baking sheet and smooth it out evenly to distribute the batter throughout the pan (I used an offset spatula to help me with this, but a butter knife will work just fine).
12. Bake the cake in the 350˚F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown, the center of the cake bounces back when touched, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in the pan.
13. Once the cake has cooled, make the frosting by placing the butter, shortening and cream cheese in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream the fat and cream cheese until it is smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the invert sugar (or glucose/corn syrup/honey) into the bowl and beat for another 3 minutes until smooth and glossy. Add the sugar, salt, and baking powder and beat on low until the dry ingredients start to incorporate and then increase speed to medium and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth.
14. Assemble the cake by first take the back of another 12 x 17 inch half sheet pan and lightly spraying it with cooking oil. Place a piece of parchment paper on the cake, and then place the bottom of the half sheet (the one that you just sprayed with cooking oil) on top of the cake. Invert the pans, and then unmold the cake onto the back of the half sheet. The cooking oil should keep the parchment paper from sliding off. Then peel off the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake. Taking the 6 inch cake ring and cut out three circles of cake in the pan by placing the ring on the cake and pressing firmly down. You will have to “stagger” the cake circles, by punching out one cake circle on the top left side of the cake sheet, one in the bottom middle of the cake sheet and one on the top right side of the cake sheet.
15. Place the cake ring on the platter/plate that you want the cake on (keep in mind that the platter has to go into the freezer overnight so pick something durable). Line the inside of the cake ring with one strip of the acetate. Place 1 of the cake circles in the bottom of the ring (it should be resting on the platter). Spread 1/5th of the frosting over the cake circle all the way to the edges (touching the acetate strip). Sprinkle 1/3 of the cake crumbs over the frosting and press down with your fingers to push them into the frosting (don’t mash them down hard, just press enough so they are firmly in the frosting). Spread 1/5th of frosting over the cake crumbs.
16. At this point, take the second acetate strip and wrap it around the inside of the cake ring, tucking it about 1/4 inch deep into the side of the bottom acetate strip. You should have a strip of acetate sticking up about 5 or 6 inches high. Place the second cake circle on top of the frosting and repeat the process, first frosting with 1/5th of the frosting, 1/3 of the crumbs and then another 1/5th of the frosting.
17. Repeat with the final cake layer then cover the top of the cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the remaining cake crumbs decoratively on top (pressing down to anchor some of them). Place the entire cake in the freezer for 12 hours. Take the cake out at least three hours before serving. Once you take it out of the freezer, pull the cake ring straight up and off the cake. Then peel the acetate strips off the cake gently. Let the cake defrost at room temperature for three hours or refrigerate the cake for up to five days, wrapped well in plastic wrap.
Makes one 6-inch cake. Serves 6 to 8 people
Sara {Home is Where the Cookies Are} says
Oh, I love that you did this for her. I bet she was head over heals. One of those box-cake brands used to make a Cherry-Chip cake that was a favorite for me and my BFF in middle school, and I’ve never been able to find it again. I’ve always wanted to make one and send it to her on her birthday. I wonder if somehow this one could be altered to do that? Kudos for leaving the food-blogger impulse behind and giving her a two-year-old dream cake!
Gail says
You are now MY Uncle Irvin, who makes great birthday cakes & cookies. What a wonderful treat for a child (not to mention the child in all of us ‘adults’).
It’s such a pretty cake, too, in all its deconstructed glory.
Thanks for posting this, Irvin. Clearly I need to add this book to my arsenal and adapt some of these recipes for my clients’ cakes.
Karin says
How could you not become ones favourite uncle, if you make your niece cakes like that? It looks lovely. And she looks so, so happy sitting there with her cake and her uncles. Precious!
Laura says
I can see your niece making a pretend phone call, totally adorable, that is one fun age. She is so precious!
You and AJ have years ahead of fun things you can do with you niece, like taking her to the Discovery Museum, or to fun walks. She is so lucky.
Belinda @zomppa says
I was I was two!! She is too adorable. What awesome uncles she has – lucky little one!
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
It’s gorgeous and what a lucky little girl. My daughter’s bday is in 2 weeks and she’ll be 5. She’d love this!
Deanna B says
Even as an adult I still love funfetti cake. I usually make my favorite white cake and add sprinkles. I think its about to make a nostalgia based comeback…like red velvet cake did a few years ago. Although based on the wedding expo I was at yesterday, red velvet is here to stay. Every single wedding cake vendor had red velvet.
The Flying Quiche says
Love this cake! It is definitely the perfect cake for a child’s birthday. OR for any other reason you can come up with- My reason was New Year’s Eve. Here’s my attempt:
http://theflyingquiche.blogspot.com/2012/01/momofuku-milk-bar-birthday-cake.html
Culinary Collage says
This cake looks like such a fun cake for a little girls birthday! It sounds like you’re a wonderful Uncle and she’s an adorable little girl who looks really happy about her great cake!
Rachel (Hounds in the Kitchen) says
What a sweet story!
My sister, a pastry chef, made my daughter’s birthday cake last year. She painted white chocolate kitty cats and piped hot pink icing all around them. It looked fantastic and the dark chocolate cake tasted great too. Unfortunately, my homemade cakes will never compare to her practiced and creative decorating; I’ll be begging her to make my daughter’s cake from here on out.
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
You made your niece so very happy… look at that happy face! Bravo for tackling this one. I’m looking at all of those directions and I’m not sure I can bring myself to do it. But you can make it for me!
Natatia says
LOVE IT! She is just too too too cute and I LOVE the picture of her blowing out the candles with you two…all three of you look so happy! Man, does she love cake. 🙂 Wish we could have been there!
Shawn says
The cake is delightful but the look on that baby’s face is absolutely priceless!
Christina says
This post is really precious.
Vijitha Shyam says
Such a sweet story and she is such a doll. The cake looks perfect for toddlers. I am sure she would have raved about you and the cake to all her friends. Aw! Look at her, so cute.
Vahtikoira says
This looks like a fabulous recipe!
Annie says
That’s so awesome. Sprinkles are totally the thing for kids. And adults, it turns out. I had a party a while ago and had sprinkles on the kids’ desserts…all the adults wanted them, too!
What a lucky girl to have such a sweet uncle. You’ll make a great daddy, if that’s ever in the cards.
Elle @ Dove's Roost Farm says
Oh, ram! Please consider becoming my Uncle Irvin! Please? You are so dang cool. And hey, consider the benefits in being my Uncle! We breed chickens for eggs and meat and they are awesome, and every baker needs the best eggs. We raise sheep for the coolest of handknit socks you’ve ever worn. We raise lots of food in our gardens. We have 2 acres of blackberries for all your jammin and winemaking needs. A niece on a little sheep ranch near the springs in NoFla isn’t the worst thing! That little ol’ 2 yr old gal has it made in the shade!
Deb says
Your niece is delightful! She is fortunate to have an uncle who baked her
the ultimate birthday cake. What fun indeed!
David says
Fun…..however Sprinkles? And you chided me for my use of sweetened coconut? LOL….xo
Jen Yu says
OMG! You are the best uncle EVAR! That look on her face and the picture of the three of you is absolutely precious, Irvin. Sometimes we have to say “the heck with organic, locally sourced, healthy ingredients” and give in to THE SPRINKLES! You are the best, sweetheart. xo
Carlo/Carlo At Your Service Productions says
This looks like the cake of all cakes, Irvin. Man! It’s as if I can practically taste it. I wish…
Your little niece is completely adorable. Another thing I was struck by was, how she comes off so well-behaved and “little lady like” – especially for a two year old. Like everyone says, they come out walking and talking, and acting grown! No really, she’s a real cutey.
Thank you so much for posting this awesome recipe. And here’s one of my main rules of thumb, if a kid like it – it’s gotta be good. They can be so picky, y’know?
Thanks again!