Vanilla Bean Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is the Best Birthday Treat
Well, I am officially IN my thirties. 30 was like dipping in a toe, but 31 feels more real. Am I grown up yet? Anyway, I rang in my personal new year with an absolutely perfect vanilla bean cake with the best cream cheese frosting known to man. Want the recipe? I bet you do. Let’s get started.
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The Perfect Vanilla Bean White Cake
The cake itself is my ideal; I adapted it from a Taste of Home recipe. It’s fluffy and moist, but it doesn’t fall to crumbs when you scoop up a bite with your fork. The vanilla is delicate but present. And the little speckles of vanilla caviar add perfect visual contrast to an otherwise creamy white cake interior.
Creaming the Perfect Batter
To achieve this, we use a very basic batter method starting with creaming. Use room temperature butter (about 72ºF) and pure cane sugar to start. Beat these together until the sugar feels dissolved and the mixture is fluffy.
Using room temperature eggs, add them in one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each one before adding in the next one. The temperature is important because cold eggs will cause the butter to seize up and look curdled. To this, you’ll add in the vanilla of one whole bean.
In a separate bowl, you’ll sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, and in a measuring cup, you’ll bring your milk to room temperature. Again the temperature is important because you don’t want the butter to seize.
You’ll add the dry mix and the milk alternately making sure each addition is fully incorporated. The last addition will be the remaining milk. Once it’s mixed in nice and smooth, turn the mixer off. No overmixing!
Preparing Your Pans Properly
To bake, you’re going to need two 9-inch round pans (these are my absolute favorites), butter, flour, and parchment paper or silicone baking liners.
If you’re using parchment paper, cut a round to fit just the bottom of the pan. Butter the entire pan, and try to flour just the sides. Press your paper or liner into the bottom, careful not to knock off any of the flour. If you’re using paper, butter the top.
Honestly, I’m not a big fan of baking sprays, but I make an exception for Pam Baking Spray with Flour because it makes this process a lot less messy and I don’t have to fuss with getting the liner in place without messing up my flour.
The Best Cream Cheese Frosting Known to Man
Seriously, what is better than cream cheese frosting? Your standard American buttercream is often too buttery and two sweet. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time or patience to figure out Swiss, French or German buttercreams.
They sound simple, but after severely messing up two batches of Swiss buttercream, I’d rather stick to something less finicky. Upping my frosting game is a project for another day.
This is another recipe I’ve adapted from a Taste of Home recipe. Both of these are in my favorite cookbook, which I talk more about in another post.
Tips for Mixing the Frosting
For this recipe, again, it’s highly important that you let your cream cheese and butter come to true room temperature. They are more easily whipped when they are warm.
Once they’re about 72ºF, whip them together until they look nice and fluffy and fully combined. To that, you’ll add vanilla and 4 to 5 cups of powdered sugar. Add each cup one at a time and slowly mix it in before scraping the bowl down and giving it a thorough beating for 15 seconds to see where your texture is.
By the 4th cup, it should look pretty good as a frosting, but if it’s a humid day, you might need the extra 5th cup. Then, you’ll transfer it to a piping bag with the tip of your choice and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to firm it up a little bit.
Assembling Your Perfect Vanilla Bean Cake
Once your cakes are completely cool and your frosting has chilled a bit, you’ll pipe a teaspoon of frosting on your serving plate, and place 4 small sheets of parchment paper to cover the edges of your plate.
Set down the first layer of cake, and frost it with about 1/2 cup of frosting. Use an offset spatula to make sure it’s level. Set the second cake on top of that and gently press it to stick. Then, fill in any gaps between the two cakes with a piped line of frosting.
Continue piping the frosting to cover the whole cake, and use your offset spatula to smooth the frosting. Use any remaining frosting to create pretty designs.
Then, top it with sprinkles or, if you’re me, make a batch of vanilla bean macarons as decorations. Don’t worry. I’ve got that recipe for you, too. Stay tuned!
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OH! And don’t forget, you can get 10% off your vanilla beans at Java Sisters’ Vanilla with my code ELLEJAYATHOME10 or through this affiliate link. 10% of their profits are donated to keeping the planet clean and protecting the rainforests.
Vanilla Bean Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 2 9-inch round pans
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment and whisk attachment
- Offset spatulas
- Piping bag with decorative tips, optional
Ingredients
Vanilla Bean White Cake
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 1½ cups pure cane sugar
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 vanilla bean
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup whole milk
- ⅓ cup greek yogurt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 to 5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Vanilla Bean Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare two 9-inch round cake pans with butter and flour and parchment or silicone liners.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and sugar crystals are dissolved. Add the egg whites one at a time, allowing them to fully incorporate before adding in the next one.
- Scrape the seeds from your vanilla bean and mix them into the batter until evenly dispersed.
- In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a glass measuring cup, whisk together the milk and greek yogurt.
- Alternative adding in the flour and milk mixtures, one third at a time, being sure to mix completely after each addition. End on the milk mixture, and do not overmix.
- Distribute equal amounts of batter between the two prepared pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick testing the center comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Wrap and chill for 1 hour before assembling the cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream together the cream cheese and butter until fully combined. Add in vanilla and salt.
- Slowly whisk in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, and, once incorporated, beat on high for 15 seconds to check the texture. After the 4th cup of sugar, it should look like a fluffy frosting after the beating.
- Transfer 1 cup of frosting to a piping bag with your decorative tip of choice. Cover the rest, and chill both frosting preparations for 30 minutes.
Assembling the Cake
- Dab 1 tsp of frosting on your serving plate, and use 4 rectangles of parchment to protect the edges of your plate. Place the first cake layer in the center (using the dab of frosting to hold it in place).
- Scoop ½ cup of frosting into the center of the first cake, and use an offset spatula to spread it evenly across the top.
- Place the second cake on top, and dress with another ½ cup of frosting. Use the piping bag to seal the gap between the two layers, and then to dress the sides of the cake with frosting. Smooth the frosting with the offset spatula as desired, and use the piping bag to embellish where ever you please.
- Decorate with sprinkles, cookies, or candy… however you wish.
- Serves between 12 and 16 people.
