There’s something sweetly nostalgic about vanilla birthday cake — though this guy has a little more flavour than the shop-bought fondant versions I remember as a kid and is super fun to make. Also, who doesn’t want a giant donut for their birthday?

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C and liberally grease the savarin tin (mould) with butter.
• Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until pale and fluffy. 
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each egg. Gently fold in the rest of the flour, baking powder and salt, trying not to overwork it. Add the milk if it seems stiff.
• Place the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes, or until skewer or cocktail stick inserted in the centre should comes out clean. Leave to cool before transferring to a wire rack. 
• To make the vanilla bean icing: place the icing sugar, vanilla bean paste and half the milk into a bowl and stir. Gradually add the rest of the milk, while mixing, until you end up with a smooth mixture.
• Place the icing into a bowl and add a drop of pink food colouring. Mix together and set aside. 
• To make the giant sprinkles, divide the fondant into 4 even pieces and colour each one with each of the shades of food colouring.
• Using the palms of your hands, make small sausage shapes of around 1¼ cm width with each of the colours. With a sharp knife, cut 3 cm lengths from each sausage shape to make giant sprinkles.
• Turn the cooled cake out onto a stand or dish. Give the icing a quick stir then pour it over the cake. Be quick and confident with it – you don’t want it to begin to set before you’ve finished covering the cake, otherwise lumps will form. If the icing seems too thick, warm it up a little either in the microwave for a few seconds or in a pan on a low heat.
• While the icing is still damp, press the fondant sprinkles onto the cake in a random formation.
• Let the icing set before slicing up to serve.

Recipe adapted from Donuts (Hardie Grant)

First published in the JC December 3 2018