Happy Birthday Gina!

Birthday Cake!

This is one of my fondest childhood memories. Every time my birthday rolled around, my Mom would try (in vain) to hide the fact that she was busily preparing some sort of special treat. Although she tries to deny it, my Mom is a talented baker. I remember the many interesting cakes she would create, including a cake shaped like Rupert, a storybook character that I loved; one shaped like a bunny, for my sister whose birthday is near Easter; and  a delicious zucchini chocolate cake, which is my very favourite cake of all. It's the most moist and flavourful cake I've ever tasted.


I, too, love the challenge of a great cake. Recently the opportunity to spend an entire Saturday baking birthday cake (from scratch!) fell into my lap. So I made this:

White Layer Cake with Cherry Filling and Whipped Cream Icing

White Cake (From Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 12th Edition):

4 egg whites
2 cups of cake and pastry flour
(all purpose will do)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening or softened butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups buttermilk or sour milk*


To make sour milk, mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar with 1 or 2% milk.

• Let the whites sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease two 8 or 9-inch baking pans. Mix together dry ingredients. 
• Beat shortening with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until combined. Add egg whites one at a time, alternating with the flour mixture. Once all ingredients are well-combined, pour mixture into baking pans, dividing equally. 
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Cool in the fridge until chilled through.

Cherry Pie Filling (from various internet recipes combined to suit my needs):

2 cups of fresh pitted cherries (I got mine from the Guelph Farmer's Market)
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of water
2 tablespoons corn starch

• Cook cherries and water in a small pot until they release their liquid. 
• Add sugar and cornstarch and continue cooking until thickened. Be careful not to burn it! 
• Place the filling in the pot to chill while you prepare the icing.

Whipped Cream Icing:
1 small carton of whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup of sugar

3 or 4 tablespoons of cherry pie filling

• Cool the beaters and bowl before you start. 
• Combine the whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar in a bowl and beat until hard peaks form. 
• Stir in the cherry pie filling and let the mixture cool in the fridge.

When all of the elements of the cake are cooled, use a bread knife or a cake slicer to cut the rounded top off of the 2 cakes. Get rid of the crumbs. Place the bottom layer of the cake on the serving dish. Spread the pie filling over it, making sure that it is even all the way to the edges. Top it with the second cake. Even out any filling the oozes out. Spread the whipped cream over the cake with a butter knife, starting at the top and working it over the sides. 

Now, decorate!

The decorations were actually the hardest part. I am not a cake decorator! In the future I will leave that task to someone more artistic.


And there you have it. A lovely cake, fit for any birthday party. I hope Gina enjoyed eating her birthday cake as much as I enjoyed making it.