OsiBakes Birthday Cake
Nothing says I’m a cool millennial turning 25 like an EPIC VANILLA FUNFETTI BIRTHDAY CAKE in the style of Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar Birthday Cake! My version is made up of a denser variation of my vanilla sponge, cream cheese frosting and also incorporates the famous Milk Bar Birthday Cake Cookie Crumbs and Milk Soak. It’s delicious, vanilla-ey, birthday-ey and it’s got rainbow sprinkles in it. What more could you want?!
The cake is made up of a few different parts so I’d recommend spreading out the tasks over two days (schedule here). If you, like me, want to be undeniably extra with your birthday cake, this is the cake for you!
Tins
-2 x 6inch Cake Tins (layers are baked and then split in half; to produce 4 tier cake)
-OR 4 x 6inch Cake Tins (no need to split cake layers and reduced bake time; to produce 4 tier cake)
-OR 2 x 8inch Cake Tins (layers are not split; to produce 2 tier cake)
Ingredients
CAKE
240g Butter or Stork (Room Temperature)
120g Caster Sugar
120g Golden Caster Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
195g Self Raising Flour
65g Plain Flour
20g Cornflour (if unavailable use Plain Flour)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
If you are making the two tier 8 inch version of this cake please half the ingredients of the frosting, milk soak and birthday crumbs:
FROSTING
270g Cream Cheese (refrigerated)
170g Butter (room temperature)
945g Icing Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Paste
Milk Bar BIRTHDAY CAKE SOAK
120ml/124g Whole/Full Fat Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Paste or Extract
MILK BAR BIRTHDAY CAKE CRUMB
50g White Caster Sugar
12g Soft Light Brown Sugar
40g Plain Flour
5g Cornflour (or more Plain Flour if unavailable)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
10g/1Tbsp Rainbow Sprinkles
20g Flavourless oil (Sunflower or Rapeseed work well)
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1Tbsp/3tsp Water
Method
CAKE
Preheat your oven to 160 C Fan/180 C/Gas Mark 4 and line your cake tin with baking paper.
TIP: If you don’t have any baking paper, you can grease your tin lightly with butter and then dust over a thin coating of flour to stop the cake sticking to the tin when it’s done!.
Add your butter, sugars (white + golden), vanilla extract to your bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, at least 5-8 mins.
Add the eggs one or two at a time, mixing very well in between until the batter comes back together after each addition. Mix well for 5 mins. It is okay if the batter looks a little bit curdled/split at this stage.
Next fold in the flours (plain + self raising), cornflour and baking powder, until well incorporate. Careful not to mix to vigorously and knock out the air from the creaming stage.
Pour cake batter into your lined cake tins and pop into the oven.
- For 2 x 6 inch bake for 40 -50 mins
- For 2 x 8 inch bake for 30 -40 mins
- For 4 x 6 inch bake for 25 - 35 mins
For all cake sizes and tins wait at least 25 mins before first opening the oven door to check on the cake. You can tell when your cake is fully baked if you pop a knife or skewer through the centre and it comes out clear. Alternatively, I use The Pillow Test which is slightly more subjective; press lightly on the centre of the cake or cupcake and if it raises back up (like a pillow) the cake is ready. If it stays imprinted, leave it in for another five minutes and check again.
FROSTING
Whip up the butter, and vanilla extract until light & soft. About 5-7mins.
Add the cream cheese (straight from the fridge) to the butter and mix for 2-3 mins until well combined. Don’t overmix or the mixture may become too loose/runny. Don’t worry if this happens pop it in the freezer for a few minutes.
Add the icing sugar to the mixture in 2 batches, mixing well in between each addition. Mix again until pale & fluffy, about 5-8 minutes.
BIRTHDAY CAKE CRUMBS
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 2-3/150 C/130 C Fan and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or non-stick spray.
Combine the all the dry ingredients (sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles) in a bowl and mix until well combined.
Add the oil, water and vanilla and mix well for about 3-5 minutes. The wet ingredients will act as glue and small clusters will start to form. If they don’t form naturally, add an extra tsp of water and then begin to compact the crumbs together to form small clusters and pour them on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.
Let the crumbs cool completely before using in the cake.
MILK SOAK
Whisk together milk and vanilla paste/extract
Assemble
Prep Cake Layers
If you used 2 x 6inch cakes then split the cake layers in half. If you used 2 x 8 inch cake tins or 4 x 6 inch cake tins then skip this step. Use a fork to prick holes all over the top surface of each cake layer. Then apply a liberal amount of milk soak to each cake layer using a squeezy bottle/pastry brush/spoon. Make sure you use all the milk soak on the cakes - it’s delicious.
Stack Cake
Place a small amount of frosting to your cake board/plate to stick your first cake layer down. Use an offset spatula or knife to add a healthy amount frosting to the top, then take some of the birthday cake cookie crumbs crumble them up and sprinkle them all over the frosting layer. Then repeat the process until you get the very last layer of cake and apply your final layer of frosting. To get the naked, frosting-to-the-edge effect I used an acetate sheet. Check out this video for how to do that in more detail.
If you don’t want to use an acetate sheet, I’d recommend just stacking and leaving it as a naked cake or nearly naked cake with a thin frosting finish at the end.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours before serving to allow it set but ideally overnight! It will last in the fridge 4-5 days!
Schedule
As mentioned above, there a few components of this cake so would recommend making this cake over two days. The individual components can last for a few days so would also recommend making ahead of time. See a detailed guide below.
Day 1
Bake the Cake Layers & Birthday Cake Crumbs
DAY 2
Make Milk Soak & Cream Cheese Frosting
Assemble all the components to create the Final Masterpiece
Storage & Make Ahead Tips
Cake - Stored in an airtight container or wrapped tight in cling film, the cake will keep fresh for 5-6 days in the fridge or 1 month freezer.
Frosting - Stored in an airtight container, the frosting will keep fresh for 5-6 days in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer.
Birthday Cake Crumbs - Stored in an airtight container, the crumbs will keep fresh for 1 week at room temperature or 1 month in the fridge or freezer.
Have a bake and let me know what you think on @OsiBakes
Copycat Milk Bar Birthday Cake
Ingredients
- 2 x 6inch Cake Tins (layers are baked and then split in half; it will produce a 4 tier cake)
- 240g Butter or Stork (Room Temperature)
- 120g Caster Sugar
- 120g Golden Caster Sugar
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 Large Eggs
- 195g Self Raising Flour
- 65g Plain Flour
- 20g Cornflour (if unavailable use Plain Flour)
- 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 270g Cream Cheese (refrigerated)
- 170g Butter (room temperature)
- 945g Icing Sugar
- 1tsp Vanilla Paste
- 120ml Whole/Full Fat Milk
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Paste or Extract
- 50g White Caster Sugar
- 12g Soft Light Brown Sugar
- 40g Plain Flour
- 5g Cornflour (or more Plain Flour if unavailable)
- 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 10g/1Tbsp Rainbow Sprinkles
- 20g Flavourless oil (Sunflower or Rapeseed work well)
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1Tbsp Water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160 C Fan/180 C/Gas Mark 4 and line your cake tin with baking paper.
- Add your butter, sugars (white + golden), vanilla extract to your bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, at least 5-8 mins.
- Add the eggs one or two at a time, mixing very well in between until the batter comes back together after each addition. Mix well for 5 mins. It is okay if the batter looks a little bit curdled/split at this stage.
- Next fold in the flours (plain + self raising), cornflour and baking powder, until well incorporate. Careful not to mix to vigorously and knock out the air from the creaming stage.
- Pour cake batter into your lined cake tins and pop into the oven.
- Bake for 40 -50 mins and wait at least 25 mins before first opening the oven door to check on the cake. You can tell when your cake is fully baked if you pop a knife or skewer through the centre and it comes out clear. Alternatively, I use The Pillow Test which is slightly more subjective; press lightly on the centre of the cake or cupcake and if it raises back up (like a pillow) the cake is ready. If it stays imprinted, leave it in for another five minutes and check again.
- Whip up the butter, and vanilla extract until light & soft. About 5-7mins.
- Add the cream cheese (straight from the fridge) to the butter and mix for 2-3 mins until well combined. Don’t overmix or the mixture may become too loose/runny. Don’t worry if this happens pop it in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Add the icing sugar to the mixture in 2 batches, mixing well in between each addition. Mix again until pale & fluffy, about 5-8 minutes
- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 2-3/150 C/130 C Fan and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or non-stick spray.
- Combine the all the dry ingredients (sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles) in a bowl and mix until well combined.
- Add the oil, water and vanilla and mix well for about 3-5 minutes. The wet ingredients will act as glue and small clusters will start to form. If they don’t form naturally, add an extra tsp of water and then begin to compact the crumbs together to form small clusters and pour them on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Make sure to let the crumbs cool completely before using in the cake.
- Whisk together milk and vanilla paste/extract
- Split the cakes in half to make four layers total. Use a fork to prick holes all over the top surface of each cake layer. Then liberally apply a healthy amount of milk soak to each cake layer using a squeezy bottle/pastry brush/spoon.
- Place a small amount of frosting to your cake board/plate to stick your first cake layer down. Use an offset spatula or knife to add a healthy amount frosting to the top, then take some of the birthday cake cookie crumbs crumble them up and sprinkle them all over the frosting layer. Then repeat the process until you get the very last layer of cake and apply your final layer of frosting. To get the naked, frosting-to-the-edge effect I used an acetate sheet. Check out this video for how to do that in more detail.
- If you don’t want to use an acetate sheet, I’d recommend just stacking and leaving it as a naked cake or nearly naked cake with a thin frosting finish at the end.
- Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours before serving to allow it set but ideally overnight! It will last in the fridge 4-5 days!
Notes:
Find Christina Tosi's original recipe here.
If you don’t have any baking paper, you can grease your tin lightly with butter and then dust over a thin coating of flour to stop the cake sticking to the tin when it’s done.
Bring out all your ingredients to room temperature before you bake (unless stated otherwise). It helps the ingredients to combine better!
Alternatively you can bake in:
- 4 x 6inch Cake Tins (no need to split cake layers and reduced bake time; will produce 4 tier cake) OR
- 2 x 8inch Cake Tins (layers are not split; will produce 2 tier cake)
This cake has a few different components so would recommend making it over two days, check out this helpful schedule for how to plan it out.
Calories
496Fat (g)
20.81Sat. Fat (g)
11.58Carbs (g)
75.46Fiber (g)
0.40Net carbs
75.06Sugar (g)
62.30Protein (g)
3.55Sodium (mg)
327.86Cholesterol (g)
88.74
