Thirtieth birthdays are a special celebration. To celebrate Erin’s a few of us headed to Cathal Armstrong’s Restaurant Eve in Old Town Alexandria. The menu is fantastic, drawing on local farms and high quality ingredients to make memorable courses. (They even make their own charcuterie with a soppressata to drool for.)

Now Eve is not the kind of restaurant where I can stroll in with my Tupperware cake carrier. However, they have a permanent spot on their menu for my favorite- “birthday cake- just because.” A tiny round pink cake that is showered in sprinkles. Fun any day and even better on a birthday. The Washington Post published the cake recipe in 2006. Here is the link. Happy baking.

Restaurant Eve’s Cake
Sunday, April 23, 2006; M08

This simple recipe uses butter that is melted rather than creamed with the sugar, as in many recipes. Don’t be afraid of overbeating it. Both the cake batter and the frosting require a good deal of whipping in order to incorporate the necessary air.

Ingredients

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus additional to grease pans
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk (may substitute low-fat or nonfat)
Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

Melt butter and let it cool to room temperature.

Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in the large bowl of a stand mixer. (A stand mixer is preferable for this recipe, though a hand-held electric mixer may be used.) On medium speed, add the butter, incorporating in several additions. Beat for about 2 minutes, or until combined; the texture should resemble cornmeal.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla extract and milk. Add to the flour-butter mixture in two batches (scraping the bowl once), and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until smooth.

Distribute the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Remove cakes from pans to cool completely. Frost the cake. It can stand at room temperature for 1 hour; otherwise, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 12.


Frosting

This makes a generous amount of icing, so those with a not-so-sweet tooth may want to reduce the quantities or expect leftovers.

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 pounds (7 1/2 -8 cups) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream, (may substitute whole, low-fat or nonfat milk)
Food coloring (optional)

In a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until fluffy. On low speed, add the sugar in batches, increasing the speed to high after each addition is incorporated. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla extract and cream in a steady stream on low speed until incorporated. Add a few drops of food coloring, if desired. (Restaurant Eve uses red to make pink.) Beat on high speed for 8-10 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Per serving: 858 calories, 6 gm protein, 129 gm carbohydrates, 37 gm fat, 168 mg cholesterol, 23 gm saturated fat, 333 mg sodium, 1 gm dietary fiber.

Recipe tested by Leigh Lambert; e-mail questions tohttp://sundaysource@washpost.com.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company