What I love best about my birthday is making my own cake. I spend weeks before the actual day pondering flavours and textures. Buttercream is not optional, it is a requirement. While some people might think it’s a little sad to have to bake your own birthday cake, I disagree. I get exactly what I want, and get so much joy creating it.
If you’re looking for a one bowl “dump and stir” cake, this is not the post for you. My birthday cake has many elements and usually takes the better part of a day.
This year’s cake is a “virtual collaboration” between Anna Olson, Rose Levy Beranbaum and me! I started with Anna’s Classic Vanilla Birthday Cake, which is a perfect canvas for everything. I had my heart set on a maple cake. I thought it would be a good idea to substitute maple sugar for the granulated sugar in the recipe to really intensify the maple flavour. I was wrong. I have never baked with maple sugar before, but the texture is different from that of traditional granulated sugar, and it resulted in a crumbly cake that tasted really strange. When I remade it with granulated sugar, it turned out perfectly. Moist and light with a beautiful tender crumb.
Next I moved onto the buttercream. I decided to make Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Neoclassic Buttercream, which is basically a French buttercream that uses egg yolks and butter. This is not a buttercream for the faint of heart. We’re not fooling around here . This is straight-up rich and luxurious. Rose suggests that you can replace the corn syrup for maple syrup and that’s what I did. Rich and silky , practically exploding with intense maple flavour.
The final component of my cake is the addition of a layer of crunch. I love a cake that combines texture. I crumbled up some Dad’s Oatmeal Cookies (because maple and oatmeal!!!!) and mixed them with malted milk powder (the umami bomb of the baking world, as Stella Parks is fond of saying), a bit of sugar, some melted butter and a pinch of salt.
Mix the crumb mixture until clumps form. Bake and cool. The finished crumble is crunchy and very addictive. It reminds me of the clumps in granola. The recipe makes more than you will need, so there is some leftover for snacking!
Click here to print recipe for Maple Crunch Birthday Cake.
Happy 🎂day Cindy! Looks delicious! Enjoy your special day! xo🥂xo🎂xo ❤️Xo Love Faith
Happy Birthday, Cindy! I hope your whole day is as smile-full and delicious as this cake! I especially love the crumble in the middle! I too make my own birthday dessert. My favorite once a year indulgence is rice pudding. No one else in my family is a fan. But who cares! It’s my birthday! (We even share the same birthday week?!)
Thanks Wendy. Wow, we’re even birthday sisters too! I love it. Hope you enjoyed your rice pudding birthday treat.
Best wishes for a wonderful birthday!
Beautiful cake and beautiful autumn table settings! I’m not a lover of cakes but love eye candy.
Thanks Vivian. I think I enjoyed creating and shooting this cake even more than I enjoyed eating it!
Stunning. I am planning to make this cake next week.
Do you have a recipe for the candied pecans? Thanks!
Thanks Goldie
Here is the recipe.
Spiced Pecans
Makes 3 cups
These candied pecans are wonderful served on their own as a snack, or sprinkled in salads. Do not attempt making these on a very humid day. They will not dry our properly and will be very sticky after baking.
3 cups pecan halves
¼ cup sugar
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 egg white
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, mix together sugar, and salt and set aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl lightly beat egg white with a whisk until frothy. Add cooled pecans and toss until evenly coated. Add spice mixture and toss until well coated. Spread evenly on parchment lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool thoroughly. Break apart nut clusters and store in airtight container at room temperature.
Have a happy birthday Cindy !
That cake looks amazing ! I can’t wait to make it !
xoxox
Lynne
Thanks Lynne, it is a really special cake. Chocolate lovers may not agree, but i think it has way more complex flavours than a boring chocolate cake!!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Cindy. The cake looks delicious!
Happy birthday Cindy, I felt I could taste it through these beautiful pictures. I’ll just have to make my own!
Thanks Linda. Some people thing vanilla cakes are boring, but they are anything but! Here they acted as a perfect blank canvas to showcase the maple flavour.
Absolutely gorgeous!!! My mouth is watering! The decadent buttercream icing! This crumble! What’s not to love! Happy birthday, Cindy! You’re amazing!
Thanks Aunty Susie. This was an amazing cake. I had to send the leftovers to Roger’s hockey team buddies, as I could not trust myself to have it in the house anymore!!