Happy Birthday!!!

Around this house, there is one kind of cake that is always requested come birthday time, a plain vanilla cake...  I had yet to deliver until now.  I always want to experiment with a new technique, ingredient or a recipe that is a bit more exciting.  And he wants plain old boring vanilla cake?  Against my own desires, I decided to surprise him with this ongoing request.  It pains me to say it, but it was definitely the right decision.  There will always be an appeal to this simple dessert.  It was perfectly moist but firm and relatively easy to frost.   

The recipe is very easy and I used a Rachel Ray recipe for vanilla frosting, but feel free to use your favorite (suggestions are welcome!).  Since I can never get the icing perfectly smooth and beautiful, I went for a swirly messy look and I think it turned out great!

Simple Vanilla Cake

Ingredients

4 eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).  Thorougly grease 2 round cake pans. 

2. Beat sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl for 1 minute until thickened.   Beat in flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and vanilla until thoroughy combined and creamy, but do not overbeat as this will cause a very 'heavy' cake.

3. Pour batter into greased cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through.  Use the toothpick test, if it does not come out clean, put it back into the oven and check every 5 minutes. 

4. Cool for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Frost  the top of the first layer, top with the second layer, and frost completely. 

Happy Birthday!