Happy Birthday to the Hubs and a Delicious Yellow Cake

I love birthdays! I love spoiling the person celebrating their special day with their favorite foods.  It is the one way I can always guarantee they'll get something they love ;)  Today we celebrated the hubs.  He always requests normal food, nothing too out there, but when it comes to his cakes, he loves to test my creativity.  In the past he's asked for a cake that looks like a hamburger, bratwurst and fries, a BBQ grill loaded with burgers and more, and a bucket of popcorn.  This year I didn't expect anything other than a challenge.  He came to me a few weeks ago and requested a "narwhal" cake.  I found it perfectly fitting. We've developed a slight obsession with narwhals at our house.

The morning began with omelets. bacon, and cake batter pancakes.

The completed narwhal cake.  He LOVED it!  I enlisted his help this year to be my soux chef/designer... I know, making him work on his own cake wasn't ideal, but he's an awesome sculptor.  He took care of the tail, horn, and narwhal head, sculpting them out of rice krispie treats, while I conquered the rest, then I stuck them all onto the cake and frosted away.

After dinner we invited some friends and family to join us for cake and ice cream.  Luckily they all came so we don't have to eat the whole cake :)

Happy Birthday Hubs!  I'm so glad you are mine forever!  Hope your day was just what you wanted!

The actual cake was delicious!  My new favorite! 

Classic Yellow Cake
Makes 2 8-9 inch rounds or 1 9x13

12 tbsp butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk, buttermilk, or yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, and vanilla until fluffy and light.  At least 5 minutes.

Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Slowly blend one third of the flour into the creamed mixture, then half the milk, another third of the flour, the remaining milk, and the remaining flour.  Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally throughout this process.

Pour the batter into greased and floured pans.  Bake 23-26 minutes (for 8 inch pans), 25-30 minutes (for 9 inch pans), or 35 minutes for a 9x13 pan.  Remove cakes from the oven, cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.