Recipes

Crimson Truck Bakery's Time-Tested Birthday Cake

Brian Noyes shares a celebration-worthy, century-plus-old family recipe

Baronial 4, 2022

photograph: Angie Mosier

For generations, this white cake—with a Swiss meringue–type white frosting that has melted chocolate poured over the pinnacle—was trotted out for birthdays in the Noyes family. My dad introduced information technology to our firsthand family, every bit did his begetter to his, and it goes dorsum at least to my great-grandfather at the Noyes bequeathed abode, Edgewater Farm, near Waterloo, Nebraska (now owned by my cousins Mac and Laura Burford). This dessert is the gem in our family unit's food legacy, and, no, it's not a vanity project—this has been the proper noun of the cake through the ages. I was heartsick when I couldn't locate a copy of the long-surviving recipe for this cookbook, and at the concluding minute—after I finished writing information technology, and as I was moving cookbooks from my house to the farmhouse—my grandmother'due south small spiral-bound book entitled "Kitchen Secrets" fell out of the pile. In a flake of happenstance (this seems to occur frequently to me, and my recipe tester Bonnie Benwick refers to it in Yiddish equally beshert or destiny), the cover slid off and the beginning loose page inside was the recipe for this cake, written in my grandmother's hand. It took some tweaking to bring it into the electric current day (with original instructions like "add butter the size of a walnut"), and my very understanding editor let me sneak it into the desserts lineup.

My cousin Carol Clark has since sent me her ain copy of the same recipe, written by my great-grandmother, whose notes attest to the magic of the frosting: "This is really a obviously cake, but it takes practise to get the frosting just right. The cake is better when it is several days sometime. Information technology is very skilful, virtually like candy." Herewith, the cherished single-layer version truthful to the historic family recipe, although I sometimes double the recipe to brand a two-layer cake for larger events.—Brian Noyes, from his new cookbook, The Red Truck Baker Farmhouse Cookbook.

Read our interview with Noyes hither.

  • NOYES BIRTHDAY CAKE (YIELD: 1 half-dozen-INCH SINGLE-LAYER Block)

  • FOR THE CAKE

    • ane½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more than for dusting

    • one cup saccharide

    • 8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

    • 2 large egg whites

    • two tsp. pure vanilla extract

    • 1¾ tsp. baking pulverisation

    • ½ cup whole milk

  • FOR THE FROSTING

    • 4 big eggs whites

    • 1 cup sugar

    • Pinch kosher salt

    • 2 tsp. pure vanilla excerpt

    • 5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

  1. Make the cake : Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease an eight-inch circular pan (with 2-inch sides) with vegetable oil spray and dust the within evenly with flour, tapping out whatsoever excess.

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, vanquish the sugar and the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides of the basin and the paddle. Add half of the egg whites, beating well to incorporate, then the remaining half. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.

  3. Scrape the concoction evenly into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Rap the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbling. Bake for 30 to forty minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out make clean and the cake has pulled away slightly from the sides of the pan. Allow cool in the pan for ten minutes, and so carefully invert the cake onto a wire rack prepare over a blistering sheet to cool completely. Trim the cake, as needed, so that information technology sits flat.

  4. Meanwhile, make the frosting : In the clean basin of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, carbohydrate, and common salt. Fill a medium bucket with a few inches of water and bring information technology to a simmer. Place the mixing bowl over the simmering h2o, making sure the water doesn't touch on the bottom of the bowl. Gently whisk the mixture until the egg whites are very warm to the touch and the carbohydrate has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Be patient and keep to whisk until the mixture no longer feels grainy (rub the mixture between your fingers to test information technology). Keep the pan of simmering h2o on the stove; you'll be using it once again. Add a little more than h2o to information technology, if needed.

  5. Rinse and dry the mixer's whisk attachment and return information technology to the mixer, forth with the bowl of the warm egg white mixture. Crush on medium-low speed until foamy, about 3 minutes. Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and beat until shiny, stiff peaks form, nigh 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat merely until combined. Frost the block as presently every bit possible (for best consistency), smoothing the pinnacle with an offset spatula, while keeping the sides fluffy and wavy with swirls and peaks.

  6. Place the chocolate in a separate bowl and prepare it over the pan of simmering water, again making sure the water does not bear upon the bowl. Stir the chocolate only until it's fully melted and smooth, so remove the basin from the pan. Let cool for one minute, so stir in one case to mix. You'll desire to cascade the chocolate quickly before it thickens.

  7. Employ an offset spatula to spread the melted chocolate in a large circle evenly over the smooth top of the frosted cake merely up to the edge of the cake. You can gently nudge some of the chocolate to start spilling over the side, if desired.

Reprinted from The Ruby-red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook , copyright © 2022 by Brian Noyes. Photographs copyright © 2022 by Angie Mosier. Published past Clarkson Potter, an banner of Random Firm.