Go to the Recipe: Ultimate Birthday Cake
FYI cake flour is listed twice in step 1 (which I’m assuming is a mistake based on ingredient list). I’ll be making this for my birthday this week!
All fixed, thanks for pointing that out! And more importantly, happy birthday! Let us know how the cake turns out.
Long ago, I bought Glycerol monostearate for the Banana cake recipe but was left w/out a framework on how to apply/adapt other recipe's to use the stuff. If there is a revision ever to the the other cake recipes that list GMS it might help others to include the guidance of up to 5% of total amount of flour.
Thank you! Starting on the cake layers today :-)
Just baked the cake layers. All went pretty well although as I got to the end of the batter I noticed it was a little darker, so I probably could have folded a bit better. Cut parchment rounds myself. They just came out the oven set at 350 (recently calibrated which has made things much nicer) and were done just shy of 30 minutes, maybe 28 minutes when I pulled them. I think one of my 3 cake pans may be nonstick as you can see the top left layer pulled away from the sides despite not being oiled, but the others stuck quite nicely. It also browned a bit faster, but that could be due to its placement in the front of the oven. I think if I were to do this part again I would 1) potentially rotate the cake layers so they bake more evenly (at the risk of fluctuating temperatures if you’re not quick about it) and 2) make sure my third cake pan is actually non stick/the same brand 🤣. Planning to make that ugly pulled away layer the middle or top though, not sure how that will go as the sides won’t line up as nice..
So I’m crazy and just remade them this morning with the pans linked in the recipe. Turned out waaaay better and actually clung to the sides. Definitely recommend using stainless pans if you have them! They also seemed to bake way more evenly, but I guess that’s what happens when you have all 3 of the same pan These came out just a minute shy of the 30 minute mark but would have been fine at 30 mins.
Finished product! It came out great albeit not as perfect as Tim is able to execute, but the video had so many helpful tips that really upped my frosting game compared to when I last made a three tier cake. I only wish that I watched the video again today, but I was a bit pressed for time! My only glaring mistake was plopping the third layer on hastily before then reading the instruction to do the soak and flip, so I soaked the top and left it as is. This became a bit precarious when frosting the top as it wanted to pull apart, but I made it work so not a huge deal. I also want to know what size piping bag was used as I believe mine were 12” but not nearly enough to hold all the frosting needed (ended up using 3), so more instructions with respect to bag prep prior would be awesome. Taste wise the description nails it on the head—light and airy and yet moist and unmistakably rich. The buttercream was not too sweet and several told me it was the best cake they have ever had. One who is not even a cake fan became one today. I’m inclined to agree–it was absolutely the best homemade non-bakery cake I’ve had, and honestly rivals what I could get from a professional bakery. Fantastic recipe and great work Tim!
Great work, Dan! Looks awesome. And that's great feedback about the piping bag instructions; we'll figure out some tweaks to that language to make things clear.
Not crazy! Dedicated, determined, detail-oriented. And that's what we're all about.
Wow! Beautiful work Dan. I'm impressed with your dedication and execution—especially for a first go. Your notes are all on point, and I bet if you make this again, your cake will be even better.
For the piping bags, here is a link to the brand and size I was using. As you found out, a 12-inch piping bag is too small for the job. Anything 21+ inches should do the trick. We'll work to provide that info in the recipe for the future.
Happy Birthday! I'm glad everyone enjoyed the cake
Thank you, Tim! And thanks for such a great recipe and video instructions. You really upped my decoration and icing skills so much and had so many great insights.
If you do happen to f*** up the cake layers and want to rebake them, don’t throw the scraps out! I had some left over buttercream and the three layers from below that I scraped and ended up adding roughly 110g buttercream to the cake layers after breaking them down into small bits, then rolled them into balls, froze them for 15 minutes, and tempered some 35% Valrhona white chocolate to dip them in. Add some sprinkles after and you have yourself what I’ll call the “ultimate” cake pop 😆
How extremely knowledgeable Tim is!
What a scoop that ChefSteps got him!
(and he’s quite cute too)
Tim's help was perfect. I don't think I could have been successful just using the recipe; following the videos was invaluable. I used real vanilla, I make my own, yes we do want a pretty cake, favor rules. A touch of vanilla will not darken the frosting, especially as we are using yellow butter.
My question is, should I use a little GMS in all my cakes?
how do we convert recipe if we are using different size cake pan?like 6, 10
What can GMS be replaced?
Hi Miguel! I haven't tested this recipe without GMS. You can definitely try baking this cake without it, but the resulting cake will likely have a less emulsified, more bubbly texture at the top.
As for substitutions, you could try powdered lecithin instead of GMS (at a weight 0.5 to 1.5% of total dry ingredients). You could also use xanthan gum to stabilize the emulsion, at a usage between 0.1 and 0.2% of the total weight of the recipe.
Lastly, I would also point you to this article for some more science-based guidance: https://bakerpedia.com/ingredients/mono-and-diglycerides-replacement/
Hope this helps!
My husband was trying to make this cake but his batter seemed very runny after he incorporated his meringue. He said it mixed it the 3 minutes longer and he did stiff peaks instead of medium. Could this cause the batter to be very runny?
Hi Jade,
Yes, whipping the meringue too far can result in a runnier, less stable batter. Here's why:
It seems counterintuitive, but a soft-to-medium peak meringue will often perform better than a stiff meringue in a chiffon-style application. Here, the films are more flexible, less brittle, able to incorporate with the batter more easily, and the air bubbles more likely to be preserved after folding. You can think of the meringue as having "room to run" as it is agitated through folding and subsequent manipulations.
Would 5 grams of orange extract be to much instead of triple sec?
What rack position for the Joule Oven?
I made the ultimate birthday cake for my wife's birthday and it came out AMAZING! What a show stopper.
My piping skills need more practicing, but thank you for great instructions and tips. Looking forward to making other cakes from Tim
Looks beautiful! Glad it worked out for you.
Looks amazing!
I live in a city that is 4900 feet above sea level. My cakes sank when I took them out of the oven and they cooled. What changes should I make to the recipe to prevent this from happening?
Just wondering what the difference is between using GMS and instant clear gel in cakes?
They do very different jobs in a cake, even though both "improve" texture—so it helps to think of one as a thickener and the other as an emulsifier/crumb conditioner.
Instant ClearJel (modified starch)
This is primarily about water control and structure.
Texture impact:
Glycerol Monostearate (GMS)
This is about fat–water interaction and aeration.
When to use:
