The reverse-creamed vanilla layer cake: velvet crumb, flat tops, and a vanilla buttercream that pipes like a dream. Birthdays deserve better than boxes.
What you need
Ingredients
Servings
12
300 g
🌾 Cake Flour ›
300 g
🍬 Sugar ›
180 g
🧈 Butter ›
soft, plus 250 g for the buttercream
3
🥚 Eggs ›
240 ml
🥛 Buttermilk ›
2 1/2 tsp
🥄 Baking Powder ›
1 tbsp
🌸 Vanilla Extract ›
400 g
❄️ Powdered Sugar ›
for the buttercream
2 tbsp
🎉 Sprinkles ›
Add all to shopping list
Mise en place
Before you start
30m
Prep
30m
Cook
60m
Total
—
Serves
Yield: One two-layer 20 cm cake
Equipment
Mixing bowls
Whisk
Baking pan
Prep checklist
Butter — soft, plus 250 g for the buttercream
Powdered Sugar — for the buttercream
4 steps
Method
1
Reverse creaming: whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat the soft butter INTO the dry mix to damp sand. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla in two stages, beating just smooth.
💡
Coating the flour in butter first limits gluten — that's the impossibly tender, flat-topped crumb.
Learn the technique ›
2
Divide between two lined 20 cm tins; bake at 175°C for 26–30 minutes to a clean-crumbed skewer. Cool completely.
3
Buttercream: beat 250 g butter 3 full minutes until pale, then powdered sugar and vanilla to a silky pipeable cloud.
4
Stack, crumb-coat thin, chill 20 minutes, then final coat. Sprinkles with conviction.
From the chef
Notes
Taste before serving and adjust salt and acid — the last 30 seconds of seasoning matter more than any single ingredient.
Afterwards
Keep, reheat & pair
Storage
Covered at cool room temperature 2 days, or refrigerated up to 5.
Freezing
Most baked desserts freeze well for 2 months, tightly wrapped.
Reheating
Most baked desserts revive in a 150°C oven for 5–8 minutes. Custards and mousses are served cold — never reheat.
Make ahead
Almost every dessert here is better made a day ahead — flavors settle and textures set. Add crisp toppings just before serving.
Wine pairing
A small glass of something sweeter than the dessert itself.
Beer pairing
An imperial stout alongside chocolate is a genuinely great pairing; otherwise coffee.