Layered celebration cake featuring vanilla bean cake and rich vanilla bean buttercream.
I can always find a reason to celebrate.
Why wait for a birthday or special occasion? Live in the moment and make each day count!
I say today deserves a pink vanilla bean speckled celebration cake!
Vanilla Bean Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
This recipe makes two 6-inch round cake layers. You may bake it in two 8-inch round cake pans. The layers will be much thinner.
The cake benefits greatly from the use of vanilla bean. If possible, use real deal vanilla bean. High quality vanilla bean paste is another great option.
Rich Buttercream
There are various types of buttercream: American, Swiss, German, Italian and French.
They all contain butter. However, they differ in their incorporation of sugar and/or eggs.
This recipes uses whole eggs (the white and yolks). You may be more familiar with Swiss or Italian buttercream, which only use egg whites to produce a meringue.
The addition of egg yolks creates a creamy, luscious, and super flavorful buttercream.
Vanilla Bean Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened, room temp
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 1 large egg yolk room temp
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp vanilla paste beans or one vanilla bean split and scraped
- ½ cup heavy cream
Rich Vanilla Buttercream:
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 cup unsalted butter room temp, cut into tablespoons
- AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Electric Pink
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Grease 2-6-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and yolk, one at time. Add sour cream and vanilla paste. Mix until combined.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry mixture to mixing bowl in three additions, alternating with heavy cream. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix and incorporate too much air into the batter.
- Weigh batter and divide evenly between two cake rounds. Smooth the top, making sure batter is settled nice and even. Bake for 20-30 minutes until cake is done and toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for five minutes before unmolding and allowing to cool completely on a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature before slicing layers.
Buttercream:
- In a medium metal bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Place over a bain-marie and whisk constantly until mixture reaches 160° F.
- Transfer mixture to bowl of a stand mixer. With a whisk attachment, beat on med-high speed until light and airy. Continue to whisk until about room temperature. Reduce speed to medium and slowly, add butter, about 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Once all the butter is added, increase speed to high and beat until buttercream is light and fluffy. Add a couple drops of the soft gel paste at a time, until you get your desired color.
That cake looks beautiful! Perfect color of pink.
Thank you! :)
so true! it is not easy to make a pretty cake; i am still learning :) but i LOVE your recommendation to weigh the batter out when dividing it up. i will definitely be using that bit of wisdom :)
learning is the fun part. you end up with a lot of cake to eat! :)
Soooo pretty… but im trying to find how you got that pretty pink color in the frosting. Can u please let us know!!
Sorry! I forgot to mention that. I used soft gel paste food coloring from AmeriColor. I used the color Electric Pink. Its really potent food coloring. I used a couple drops to get that vibrant pink color