“Who’s Counting?” Birthday Cake

Nov 14, 2018Cakes Recipes

Ingredients:

  • For the cakes:
  • 4 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking sheets and parchment
  • 9 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising), plus more for parchment
  • 1/4 cup baking powder
  • Salt
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 3 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 1/2 cups sugar
  • 14 large egg whites, room temperature
  • For decorating:
  • Swiss meringue buttercream
  • 2 pounds multicolored candy-coated chocolates (mymms.com)

Instructions:

  1. 1. Make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheets. Line with parchment. Butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Sift flour, baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt into a bowl.
  2. 2. Combine milk and vanilla. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until very smooth. With machine running, gradually add sugar, and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  3. 3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Beat until just combined; do not overmix.
  4. 4. Beat egg whites in a clean mixer bowl on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Gently fold egg whites into batter in 3 additions.
  5. 5. Transfer batter to baking sheets, smoothing tops with an offset spatula. Bake until tops spring back when pressed with a finger and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in sheets on wire racks for 15 minutes. Loosen edges of cakes with a small metal spatula or paring knife; invert onto racks. Discard parchment. To prevent splitting, reinvert cakes, top side up. Let cool completely.
  6. 6. Decorate the cakes: Place “20” stencil (or another number) onto 1 cake, setting numbers side by side. Secure with toothpicks. Cut around each stencil using a paring knife. Remove scraps. Repeat with remaining cake.
  7. 7. Spread 2 cups buttercream onto the “2,” and spread 2 cups buttercream onto the “0.” Top each number with remaining matching cake number, and frost tops and sides of each with remaining buttercream. Cover each cake with rows of candies.

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