Valentine's Day doesn't have to be about romance. For me, it was a treasure hunt.
Every Valentine's Day from the time I was very young, my mom would wake up early and hide clues around the house. Rhyming riddles that led from the bookshelf to the kitchen drawer to the woodpile. One year, each clue came with a puzzle piece and we had to put the whole thing together to find the final hiding spot.
The prize was always the same: vanilla cake with cherry buttercream frosting, sometimes as cupcakes, sometimes as a whole cake. It was the kind of childhood tradition that made the world feel like magic.
I think about that now as an adult—how much effort and love went into making that tradition happen every single year. The planning, the early morning baking, the care in every hand-written rhyme. It's one of the best memories I have of what love looks like. And the taste of this cake brings me back to that feeling every time.
I'd like to share this special recipe with you. It's simple, it's delicious, and it works just as well as a layer cake or cupcakes. Make it for someone you love.
Vanilla Cake You'll Remember
Serves 10+ | 350°F
Cake
1 cup butter
1½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
Cream butter, 1½ cups of the sugar, salt, and vanilla well. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Sift the flour and baking powder together several times. Add the dry mixture with the milk in alternating portions to the creamed blend. Beat smooth. Pour batter into 2 9-inch layer pans and bake about 35 minutes. Cool on racks.
For cupcakes: Bake about 25 minutes.
Frosting (for a 2-layer cake)
½ cup soft butter
3 cups confectioner's sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cream
1½ teaspoon vanilla
Cream butter until fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioner's sugar, salt, cream, and vanilla.
For cherry frosting: Add cherry flavoring to taste.
I love adding different spice blends to this recipe depending on the occasion. My favorites are Advieh for warm, floral notes, and Kashmiri Garam Masala for intense, deeply spiced flavors. To add a spice blend, stir a tablespoon into the batter along with the flour mixture, and leave the frosting plain.
