Pastel de cumpleaños is the Spanish term for birthday cake. It's the traditional centerpiece at birthday celebrations-often
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decorated with frosting, candles, and a cheerful message like "Feliz cumpleaños." Variations include cupcakes, cake pops, and other festive treats.
At our house, the ultimate pastel de cumpleaños is my homemade Vanilla Cake with Buttercream Frosting.
This week, our son turned eleven, and just like every year, he asked for his favorite vanilla butter cake. This time, though, he added a puppy to the wish list. 🐶
The cake was an easy yes-I've been baking it almost every birthday since he was little. The puppy? That one's on hold. 🙃😁
What makes this birthday cake so special is the trio of vanillas I use: pure vanilla extract, vanilla bean, and a hint of clear vanilla. Together, they create that warm, nostalgic flavor that instantly takes you back to childhood celebrations.
Once the cake is cooled, my husband (our official cake decorator) adds a thick, dreamy layer of vanilla buttercream.
The result? It is a soft, tender cake with a deep vanilla flavor in every bite. It's simple, foolproof, and always a crowd-pleaser. Try it once, and I'm pretty sure it'll become your go-to birthday cake, too.
Ingredients You'll Need
🧁 Vanilla Butter Cake
- Cake Flour: Provides a delicate, tender crumb due to its lower protein content, making it ideal for soft, delicate cakes.
- All-Purpose Flour: Adds a bit more structure to balance the tenderness of the cake flour.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps create a moist, soft texture.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Work together to give the cake lift and a light, fluffy texture.
- Kosher Salt: Enhances the flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Buttermilk: Adds moisture and a subtle tanginess, reacting with the leaveners to achieve an extra rise.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients, provide structure, and contribute richness and moisture.
- Unsalted Butter: Adds flavor and tenderness; creaming it into the flour also helps create a fine crumb.
- Avocado Oil (or Vegetable Oil): Keeps the cake extra moist and tender, even after refrigeration.
- Pure Vanilla Extract, Clear Vanilla, and Vanilla Bean Paste: A trio that delivers layered, nostalgic vanilla flavor-warm, floral, and sweet.
🍰 Vanilla Buttercream
- Confectioners' Sugar: Sweetens the frosting and gives it a smooth, fluffy consistency.
- Dry Whole Milk Powder: Adds subtle dairy richness and helps stabilize the buttercream.
- Unsalted Butter: Forms the creamy base of the frosting, giving it structure and flavor.
- Cream Cheese (optional): Adds tang and softness to the buttercream, making it extra smooth and pipeable.
- Vanilla Extract, Clear Vanilla & Vanilla Bean Seeds: Infuse the buttercream with a deep, aromatic vanilla profile.
- Kosher Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the overall flavor.
- Heavy Cream: Used to adjust the consistency of the frosting, making it light, smooth, and easy to spread or pipe. You can substitute it with milk or buttermilk if needed.I usually don't add any liquid unless the frosting feels too stiff.
How to Make Pastel de Cumpleaños
Note: The full instructions are provided in the recipe card below.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C)-grease and lightly flour three 8-inch round cake pans.
- Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, oil, and both vanillas until smooth.
- In a stand mixer, combine sugar, cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- With the mixer on low, add the softened butter in chunks until the mixture resembles a sandy texture.
- Add ¼ of the wet mixture and beat on medium-high for 2 minutes. Add the rest in two additions, mixing and scraping between each.
- Divide the batter between pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.
- Cool in pans for 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack and wrap in plastic to cool completely.
- Beat softened butter and cream cheese (if using) until smooth. Add vanilla bean seeds, both types of vanilla, and salt; beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla bean seeds, and dry milk. Mix to combine. Add heavy cream and beat for 5-6 minutes until light and smooth. Adjust consistency as needed.
- Reserve about ⅓ cup of buttercream for decorating.
- Layer the cakes with generous amounts of buttercream between each. Frost the top and sides.
- Pipe decorations with the reserved buttercream using a Wilton 1M tip and finish with rainbow jimmies.
Camila's Tip: To extract seeds from vanilla beans, split them lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the back of a paring knife.
Storage, Make Ahead, & Freezing
Storage: Refrigerate the assembled cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Let it sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before serving.
Unfrosted cake layers can be refrigerated for up to 5 days, tightly wrapped.
Buttercream can be refrigerated for up to 5 days; bring to room temperature and re-whip before using.
Make-Ahead: Bake the cake layers up to 2 days ahead and store at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
Make the buttercream up to 3 days in advance and refrigerate in an airtight container-re-whip before frosting.
Assembled cake can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Freezing: Freeze unfrosted cake layers for up to 3 months. Wrap each layer in plastic wrap, then cover it with foil. Thaw overnight in the fridge before frosting. Freezing layers separately keeps them fresh and easy to assemble later.
Camila's Tips & Variations
- Room Temperature Ingredients: For the fluffiest texture, let your eggs, buttermilk, and butter come to room temperature before mixing.
- Don't Skip the Trio of Vanillas: The combination of pure vanilla extract, clear vanilla, and vanilla bean gives this cake its signature nostalgic flavor. If you don't have vanilla bean seeds or clear vanilla, just use 2 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract.
- Wrap the Layers: Wrapping the warm cake layers in plastic helps lock in moisture, keeping the crumb extra soft and tender.
- Make It Ahead: You can bake the cake layers and prepare the buttercream a day in advance. Wrap the layers tightly and keep them at room temperature. Store the buttercream in the fridge, then bring it to room temperature and re-whip before using.
- Frosting Too Stiff? Add a splash of heavy cream and whip until smooth and spreadable.
- Customize the Decor: Match the sprinkles to your party theme or tint the buttercream with food coloring.
- Make It a Sheet Cake: This recipe also works in a 9x13-inch pan. Just bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Chocolate Buttercream Variation: To make cocoa buttercream, add ½ cup (about 40 g) of unsweetened cocoa powder along with the confectioners' sugar.
If your buttercream is still too stiff after adding extra heavy cream, it might be too cold. Microwave about one-quarter of the heavy cream for 6 seconds, just until warm and fluid. Beat it into the buttercream on medium-high for a couple more minutes until fluffy and smooth.
🧁 Curious About Reverse Creaming?
Reverse creaming creates cupcakes with a tighter crumb and flatter tops. It begins by mixing the butter with the dry ingredients first, which coats the flour and limits gluten development, resulting in a soft and tender texture. Learn more from America's Test Kitchen.
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Recipe
Easy Vanilla Cake
Equipment
- (3) 8-inch round cake
Ingredients
Vanilla Butter Cake:
- Nonstick baking spray
- 250 grams (2 cups) cake flour
- 75 grams (⅔ cup) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 400 grams (2 cups) granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 355 ml (1 ½ cups) buttermilk at room temperature
- 4 large eggs , at room temperature
- 170 grams (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened , cut into chunks
- 90 ml (6 tablespoons) avocado oil or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon clear vanilla
- ½ vanilla bean , seeds scraped
For the Buttercream:
- 700 g (6 cups) confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon dry whole milk (such as Nido)
- 339 g (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened , optional
- ½ vanilla bean , seeds scraped
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream or milk ( as needed)
- Rainbow jimmies and Wilton 1M tip for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F-grease and lightly flour three 8-inch round pans.
- Combine the buttermilk, eggs, avocado oil, vanilla bean seeds, and both types of vanilla in a bowl or large measuring cup and whisk until smooth.
- Combine the sugar, cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Whisk to combine the dry ingredients.
- Place the mixer bowl on the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, begin adding chunks of softened butter and continue blending until the mixture is sandy and no visible chunks of butter remain.
- Add ¼ of the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend on low to combine. Raise the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl and beater halfway through the beating process.
- Add half of the remaining liquid ingredients to the bowl, blend on low to combine, and then scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining liquid ingredients and continue to blend on the lowest speed for 2 minutes.
- Divide the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out with a few most crumbs stuck to it, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Cool the layers in their pans for 15 minutes, then turn them onto a cooling rack and carefully wrap them in plastic wrap while they cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and cream cheese (if using) on low speed until smooth.
- Add the vanilla and salt, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is very smooth and lighter in color, about 3-4 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula a few times during mixing.
- Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla bean seeds, and powdered milk (if using). Mix on low until combined, then increase to medium speed and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and paddle.
- Add 3 tablespoons of heavy cream and mix on low to incorporate. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 5 to 6 minutes, scraping the bowl and paddle halfway through. The frosting is ready when it turns nearly white and feels airy and smooth. If it's too stiff to spread easily, beat in 1 tablespoon of heavy cream-or more as needed-until you reach the desired consistency. Reserve about ⅓ cup of the buttercream for decoration.
- Place one layer of the vanilla cake on a cake stand or platter. Spread a generous cup of buttercream over it, then add the second layer and repeat. Top with the final cake layer. Use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with rainbow jimmies and use the reserved frosting in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip to create your desired pattern on top of the cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is an estimate, calculated using standard data sources. Actual values may vary based on ingredient brands, preparation methods, and portion sizes. This information is for general reference only and should not be considered a substitute for professional dietary advice.
