Vanilla Bean Layer Cake

Ingredients:
3 1/3 cup flour
1 1/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
3 tablespoons vanilla paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 egg yolks

chocolate cream cheese frosting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour or spray with baking spray two 8 inch round pans. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolks, mix until well combined. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Add the vanilla paste to the milk. Mixing continuously, add the flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Divide evenly into the prepared pans and bake about 40 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Cool on wire rack, removing from the pans after about 5 minutes. Cool completely then ice.

My thoughts:

We had some friends over for dinner and I used it as an excuse to make a classic vanilla cake with chocolate icing. I’ve been wanting to make a layer cake for ages but living in the household of two, there is just no hope that we would be able to finish it. Th cake is moist and has tiny flecks of vanilla beans throughout. The vanilla flavor is present but surprisingly subtle considering the amount of vanilla paste that went into the cake. Which isn’t to say it is bland just that the flavor is very natural tasting and not overpowering.

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14 Comments

  1. Gosh that cake look sooooo moist!! We’ll take two THICK slices of this please!

  2. YUM! Looks beautiful! πŸ™‚

  3. Jessy and her dog Winnie

    That looks delicious!

  4. Wow! This looks absolutely delicious!! I think i may need to break out the baking pans…

  5. Insider knowledge aside, that looks so tasty that if someone was standing in between me and it I’d consider stabbing them with a knork in order to swipe the cake. Only titanium will do.

  6. strawberriesinparis

    oh yum!! I like the idea of vanilla paste. Where do you purchase such a thing in our lovely city?

  7. I bought it at Trader Joe’s a while back but Williams-Sonoma carries it.

  8. There are small cake pans that are sold, at least at Target, if you want to make cakes for just the two of you. I got a pack and it was $10 I think and you get 3 four inch pans. They work just like the larger cake pans and are really handy. Kind of like really big cupcakes. πŸ™‚

  9. I too never heard of the vanilla paste. Like the spring sprinkles!

  10. Oh now that looks totally yummy! It makes me want to bake one right now. Too bad it’s bed time! πŸ™‚

  11. so this is really just yellow cake?

    not that i dont love it.

  12. Not exactly, Meghan. It has a much more pronounced vanilla flavor than a traditional yellow cake and lovely vanilla bean flecks though out.

  13. Looks good!

    Paz

  14. Wow!!
    It looks yummy.