Snickerdoodle Birthday Cake

My 8 year old browsed the colorful cake picture pages in my Cake Mix Doctor cookbook (by Anne Byrn) and picked this winner for her birthday party cake on Saturday. It’s a first for our family but definitely won’t be the last time we feast on this particular recipe! Since I had two requests for it, I thought I’d post it here as well.

By the way, my 8 year old decorated the cake all by herself! (Except for the writing!) It went along well with her cowboy/cowgirl birthday theme…don’t tell her, but I think the “cowboy hats” look like something Curious George’s friend would have worn on his African safari… (smile)

Snickerdoodle Cake

Preheat oven to 350*F, and generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.

• 1 package (18.25 oz) plain white cake mix
• 1 cup whole milk (I used skim and it turned out fine!)
• 8 TB (1 stick) butter, melted (use REAL butter!)
• 3 large eggs (whites and yolks, don’t separate!)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting (recipe below)

Place cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for one minute. Stop machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look well combined. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

Bake the cakes until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 27-29 minutes. Remove from oven and place pans on wire racks to cool for ten minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert them again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow them to cool completely, 30 minutes more. Meanwhile, prepare the Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. Place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with clean, smooth strokes.

Place this cake, uncovered, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. Cover the cake with waxed paper and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

–Makes 3.5 cups, enough to frost a 2 or 3 layer cake

• 8 TB (1 stick) butter, at room temperature (use REAL butter!)
• 3 3/4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted (I never sift anything and it turns out fine…)
• 3-4 TB milk
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioners’ sugar, 3 TB milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 TB milk if the frosting seems too stiff.

Use to frost the top and sides of the cake of your choice.