This cake has so much vanilla, so much butter and so much deliciousness. In a bowl, sift in all-purpose flour or cake flour, salt, white granulated sugar, baking soda and baking powder. For the wet ingredients, add room temparature butter in a bowl together with whole milk, sour cream, egg whites, vanilla extract then whisk that up just to mix everything up. Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold it in until nice smooth cohesive batter. Butter your baking pan with cold butter then flour it and a parchment paper.

Pour the batter into the cake ins and bake in a 350-degree oven for half an hour until the centre is springy and the edges are pulling away from the oan. That is how you will know your cake is done. If you underbake your cake, the bottom will not remove the cake and this will get a little sad so just make sure they are perfectly done. For the vanilla buttercream, add three sticks in a stand mixer and cream it up just for a few seconds then add some confectioners sugar and continue mixing on low.

Add your vanilla extract than more sugar. As you whip the buttercream up, it becomes fluffier and lighter in colour. Once your buttercream is done, you will add just a drop of pink food colouring then add just a tablespoon of cream, just to thin it a little bit. Place your cake on a wire rack to cool off completely then its time to start adding your buttercream.

Pipe your cream on the cake because it is nice and easy and does not tug at the cake, lots of time with a really tender cake if you are tagging at it trying to spread the cream it will break or tears the cake layer and this is not what you want. This method is much easier and it also kinder on the cake layers. After each layer of buttercream, gently lave the cake on top and butter the next layer up to the last layer.

Place a thick layer on the last cake and check the sides to make sure everything is well-aligned. This is a naked cake but if you want a seminaked cake, you will have a very thin layer of buttercream on the top o the cake then use a bench scraper to scrape the sides of the cake. Decorate your cake with some spires, strawberries or dollops then sprinkle confetti on top. Cut your cake and enjoy.

Ingredients;

For the Cake;

  • 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 200g
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda 1g, heaping
  • 1 tsp baking powder 4g, heaping
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter 171g, room temperature
  • 3 egg whites room temperature
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract 15mL
  • 1/2 tsp salt 3g
  • 1/2 cup sour cream 120mL, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup whole milk 118mL, room temperature

For the Buttercream;

  • 1 lb confectioner’s sugar 454g
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter 226g
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 118ml
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract 5mL
  • 1 pinch salt add to taste
  • food colouring if desired

Instructions;

For the Cake;

  1. Butter and flour three 6-inch pans. I use damp cake strips on my pans for more even baking as well. Preheat oven to 340F.
  2. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the wet ingredients together.
  3. Add the wet to the dry and mix until combined. Divide the mixture evenly into the cake pans. I like to use a kitchen scale to measure for even layers.
  4. Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the centres are set and springy.
  5. Let the layers cool in the pans for about 4 minutes, then dump each layer out onto a cooling rack.

For the Vanilla Buttercream;

  1. Beat the room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, food colouring and heavy cream. Mix together until the desired consistency is reached. Transfer to a piping bag.

For the Assembly;

  1. Pipe buttercream between the cake layer. Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream.
  2. Use an offset spatula and a bench scraper to smooth the frosting.
  3. Using floral tape, cover the stem of the peony to form a barrier between the flower and cake. Add to the top of the cake.