M.I.A. Riley's Fancy Birthday

So I guess I have neglected my blog just a little, but with good reason! We spent the last month in Southern California, sure I had time and things to blog about, but the truth is I was missing my kitchen and just didnt feel in my "zone". So the blog got put on hold. Now I have been back home about a week and feel the need to share the fancy cake I made for Riley's 4th birthday while we were visiting SoCal! I cant believe she is 4...I cried...its true, but not in front of people, because that is just crazy. okay, so after much debate with my four year old and a "test" batch of "pink lemonade cupcakes", we finally decided on this cake. I changed it up some to make it a two layer cake instead of three. Oh and in case you are wondering about the pink lemonade cupcakes, they were very tasty but a little, (and by little I mean A LOT), too sweet for my liking.

Happy Baking!-Jess

Riley's Fancy Pink Vanilla birthday cake

Ingredients:

• 2  cups unsalted butter, at room temperature 
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 4 LARGE egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350F, grease and flour two-9inch round cake pans. Combine butter and sugar in large bowl and beat until light and fluffy. add egg whites and mix until combined. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt, whisk together. combine vanilla and buttermilk in measuring cup. add dry ingredients into large bowl and mix, followed by buttermilk. mix until well combined. 
*note, I made this using a hand mixer, but it is much easier to do using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. 
Divide batter evenly into prepared cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. or until toothpick in center comes out clean. let cool completely before frosting. 


For the frosting I used the same recipe found on here but i added a few drops of natural red food coloring to give it a pink tint. Enjoy!