On June 9th, Chris turned 27. On June 10th, I left for northern Minnesota for a few days to participate in a fairly young family tradition called Chick Week. (Only girls attend, for the most part...) In any case, I wanted to be sure that Chris' birthday was extra special this year, with very little packing on my part, and lots of celebrating instead!
We started the morning early, at 6:15, so that Chris could run a charity 3K race in a nearby neighborhood. He finished a full minute quicker than last year! Then we came home, regrouped, and headed out for a victory beignet at The Green Gateau, a great place for a date night, but even better for a nice brunch.
After brunch and a quick nap, I sent Chris out for a break to do some writing, and I scrambled to make a cake and get some cleaning done for the mini surprise party that night! We had some lovely friends over, Steve and Laurie, and their ADORABLE little girl Noelle over, enjoyed some great food and even better company. All in all, a great birthday!
This cake is dead simple to make, and it's completely delicious. I'd suggest serving it with some ice cream, or some barely sweetened whipped cream. Not too much extra sweet though, as the frosting is plenty sweet on its own. I will definitely be making this again. Yum!
Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting, from Pastry Affair
Ingredients:
Cake:
8 Tbsp (1 stick) Butter, room temperature
1 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs
1 cup Sour Cream
2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch Of Nutmeg
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 cups Cake Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, room temperature
⅓ cup Brown Sugar, packed
1 tsp Cinnamon
4 cups Powdered Sugar
4 Tbsp Heavy Cream
1 tsp Salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease 2 8 or 9-inch cake pans and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in sour cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.
Gradually add in cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until smooth. Batter will be very thick. Ridiculously so.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and spread out batter until level. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine were done at about 42 minutes.)
Cool in pans for at least 10 minutes before removing cake and allowing to cool completely on a cooling rack.
For the Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Beat in the ground cinnamon and salt. Extra cinnamon is wonderful here. Beat in the powdered sugar and cream, alternating a cup of powdered sugar with a tablespoon of frosting until it's all incorporated. If frosting is too thick, add a small amount of cream until desired consistency is achieved. If frosting is not thick enough, add powdered sugar until desired consistency is achieved. (I found the frosting is rather thick, but it is still a nice consistency for this cake, and doesnt need too much thinning.)
To Assemble:
Put a dab of frosting on your cake plate to hold cake in place. Place a cake layer on cake plate. Top cake with ⅓ of the frosting and spread evenly. Top with second cake layer and the rest of the frosting, spreading it evenly across the top and down the sides. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon for decoration, if desired. (Definitely do this!) Enjoy!