Recipe
Vanilla Celebration Cake
Two soft vanilla sponges are filled and covered with smooth buttercream, then finished with colourful sprinkles. This straightforward two-layer cake makes ten slices for a birthday or another small celebration.
Ingredients
Sponge (two 20cm layers)
Vanilla buttercream
Decoration
Method
40 mins prep30 mins cook140 mins total
Grease two 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan or Gas 4.
Beat the sponge butter and caster sugar for 3–5 minutes until pale and airy.
Beat in the eggs individually. If the mixture begins to curdle, add a spoonful from the measured self-raising flour with the next egg.
Sift the remaining flour with the baking powder and fold into the mixture. Fold in vanilla and milk, stopping as soon as the batter is smooth.
Share the batter equally between the tins and level gently. Bake on the middle shelf for 25–30 minutes, until the cakes spring back and a skewer comes out clean.
Rest in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn onto a rack. Allow another 50–60 minutes, or as long as needed, for the layers to become completely cold.
Beat the buttercream butter for 2–3 minutes, then gradually beat in icing sugar and vanilla. Add the milk little by little until the icing spreads easily.
Set one sponge on a serving plate and spread about a third of the buttercream over it. Add the second sponge and use the remaining icing for the top and sides.
Add the sprinkles or chosen edible decorations. Cut into ten slices with a sharp knife.
Notes
Butter, eggs and milk at room temperature combine more evenly. Cool both layers fully before icing; warm sponge will melt the buttercream. Hard sugar decorations can be a choking hazard for young children.
Keep in an airtight cake box in a cool room for up to 3 days when using only buttercream and shelf-stable decorations. Cakes with fresh cream or perishable fruit fillings must be refrigerated promptly and stored according to those ingredients.
About this recipe
A two-layer vanilla sponge is a useful starting point for a homemade celebration cake. The butter and sugar are beaten until light, then eggs and flour form a soft batter that bakes into springy layers. Vanilla runs through both the sponge and the buttercream, keeping the flavour simple enough for colourful decorations.
Use two matching sandwich tins so the layers bake evenly, and let the cakes become completely cold before filling them. The buttercream should spread easily without slipping down the sides; add the milk gradually rather than all at once. Finish with sprinkles or other edible decorations suited to your guests, then cut with a sharp knife for neat slices.
