My Favorite Birthday Cakes + The Easiest Buttercream Ever

This is my last how-to post from Ada’s Bakery Birthday Party.  The two cakes I made for her party have become my go-to recipes when I’m looking for something simple and easy.  And my source for something simple and wonderful is the same as so many other people: the Barefoot Contessa. 

Her recipe for chocolate cake is at once light and dense, chocolately but not overbearing, and fluffy without being spongy.  I think a simple vanilla buttercream is the perfect frosting for this cake (keep reading for the quickest buttercream frosting recipe!).

I adjusted the baking time but only because I was baking twelve mini-cakes instead of the larger cakes the original recipe makes.

I used an offset spatula to spread buttercream over the top and sides of the cakes, then piped additional frosting along the bottom and top edges.

Since the kids were taking these cakes home with them I wanted to make something different for the cupcakes we’d be eating at the party.  I’ve always been a little bored by plain vanilla cake but love Barefoot Contessa’s coconut cupcakes.  They taste like vanilla cupcakes but with a little extra “something.”