So this is what 23 looks like...

Dun nuh nuh nuh nuh.....You say it's your birthday! Well, it's my birthday too, yeah!

Today, July 4th, 2008, I turn 23.

I bought some glasses...

And some Dr. Scholl's insoles, so I'm ready to go.


I made this birthday cake for MYSELF; it's a white cake adapted from Dorie Greenspan, layered with strawberry and blackberry preserves, with a real buttercream frosting and homemade marshmallow fondant stars.


I suppose it tastes good, I haven't tried it yet, but I have one thing to say:

I hate f*ing fondant - it's %&*(^@#$&)*$#&^@#)(@#*(#&#$*!!

Ohh, I feel so much better now.

The total time it took to make the cake and frosting was less time then it took making/dealing with the fondant. I'm soooo not happy with the fondant. What can I say? I'm a cake baker - not a cake decorator.


I'm posting the cake recipe, but not the buttercream frosting recipe. It's a good recipe, but it's not mine to give. I recommend purchasing Dorie's book, Baking From My Home to Yours to acquire it.

Hope everyone has a good 4th!

White Birthday Cake (Recipe by Me, but adapted from Dorie Greenspan)
Printable Recipe

2 1/3 cups cake flour
2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (9-inch) cake pans and line with parchment paper; butter parchment paper.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together buttermilk, egg white and vanilla in a small bowl, until combined.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk mixture, until ingredients are Incorporated. Beat an additional 2 minutes to insure ingredients are well combined.

Divide batter evenly into prepare pans, smooth surface with a spatula, and bake at 350 degrees F, for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges, and a toothpick inserted into cakes comes out with moist crumbs attached.

Cool for 12 minutes on wire racks, run a knife around outside edges, and invert cakes onto wire racks (removing parchment paper) to cool completely.