artEncounter

A variation of our family birthday cake recipe- a home made, no frills yellow cake with cream cheese icing.

For a 3-cup rice cooker:

birthday cake

Ingredients to make one 2.25cm (1 inch) layer:

68g (0.33 cup) butter, softened
175g (7/8 cup lightly packed) white sugar
1 egg
156g (1.25 cup) flour
1g (0.25 tsp) baking soda
2g (0.25 tsp) salt
liquid to make 118ml (½ cup)
15ml (1 tbsp) white vinegar

1) In a large bowl, mix the softened butter with the sugar (fingers work well). Beat in the egg with chopsticks.

2) In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well, set aside.

3) In a measuring cup, add 15 ml of white vinegar, then enough liquid (water, juice, milk, or cream) to make 118ml.

4) Add half of the dry mixture and half of the liquid to the butter and sugar mixture, mix until just combined. Add the rest of the flour and liquid, mix again until just incorporated.

5) Put the batter into a greased rice cooker pot (or, if the pot is non-stick, no need to grease).

6) Bake for 2 rice cooking cycles, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

To make the icing:

200-250g cream cheese, softened (might be translated to something enigmatic like "soft cheese with cream." At Metro, you might find imported brands like Philadelphia)
300g powdered sugar (also called "icing sugar")
1g (1/4tsp) salt
5ml flavoring

Gradually add the sugar to the cream cheese until smooth. Add salt and flavoring.

To assemble the 4 layer cake shown:

Bake two layers following the above recipe. Wrap in plastic and freeze overnight. While still frozen, trim the edges until the layers are uniform and vertical, and cut each cake in half to make 4 layers. Sandwich layers with icing, then ice the entire cake. Allow to thaw before serving.