The best birthday cake recipes are those that are simple to execute and consistently work well. So this post will be about the most perfectly simple, yet impressive birthday cake - a lovely light vanilla sponge layer cake, with beautifully buttery Swiss meringue buttercream.

It takes 5 minutes to prepare the sponge, and half an hour to make the buttercream and decorate. It's also one of the most budget-friendly recipes too that doesn't even need a stand-mixer.

A stunning and delicious birthday cake that takes just an hour AND cheap to make? Whether it's for your 18th birthday cake or a 70th birthday cake or anything else in between - we've answered all your birthday-cake-prayers here.

This all-in-one batter is based on our cult-favourite Hero Sponge recipe. Hero Sponge is fantastic and favoured by everyone who tries it because of its:

• Ease - it's all in one bowl, with ingredients listed in order and all in one measure
• Lower cost - it uses oil and granulated sugar instead of butter and caster sugar
• Simple equipment - you only need a hand whisk, spoon or spatula to make the batter
• Versatility - you can use the same batter and flavour it in countless ways using spreads, fruit, nuts and more

By using oil and yoghurt in the batter instead of butter, not only is it more cost-effective, it's also kept moist for far longer. It has a fluffy light texture, with a delicate and tender crumb, and a delightful flavour. 

You can make a crowd-pleasing Victoria Sponge by adding jam and cream in between the layers or if you need something with more of a wow-factor, more oomph, more pizzazz, you can add a chocolate drip. By having a fool-proof basic recipe for the cake, you can afford to have as much (or as little) time as you want for the decorating.

Catherine Frawley, my friendly food photographer friend and novice baker, tested the cake recipe and had this to say about it:  

"Whilst I’m a pretty confident cook and baker, masking a cake competently (and not just saying it’s rustic) is something that needs some practice. And two non-negotiable tips from Reshmi are a turntable (not the musical variety!) and an angled palette knife. 

Holding the palette knife at a 45-degree angle and turning the cake on the table will take some getting used to but Swiss meringue buttercream is forgiving and you can keep adding and taking away until you have a smooth even crumb coating.

I followed Reshmi’s birthday cake recipes exactly as stated and it turned out to be my most impressive bake ever."

Bookmark this and keep it in your arsenal of sturdy, fool-proof, impress-everybody recipes.

The Recipe

Vanilla Sponge Birthday Cake Recipe

Ingredients for Vanilla Sponge Cake Recipe

2 eggs, medium

50g oil, any neutral oil like vegetable or sunflower

80g low or non-fat yoghurt

65g milk, whole or semi-skimmed

10g vanilla extract (approx. 2 teaspoons)

200g granulated sugar

A pinch of salt

230g plain flour

10g baking powder (approx. 2 teaspoons) 

Easy Method For Vanilla Sponge For Cake Recipe 

1) Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

2) Mix all the wet ingredients together in a mixing bowl. This would be the eggs, oil, yoghurt, milk and vanilla extract. 

3) Add in the sugar and salt and mix to combine well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until lumps are just gone - be careful to not over mix. It's okay to have a few tiny lumps remaining.

4) Grease two 6-inch tins well with butter, oil or cooking spray. There is NO need to line the tins with paper. Divide the batter evenly between both tins. Bake for 25 minutes, checking for doneness by inserting a cocktail stick or paring knife in the middle of the sponge - it's ready when it comes out just clean with no wet smears. If there is any stickiness on the skewer, bake at increments of 2 more minutes.

5) Leave them to cool in tins at room temperature for 15 minutes before releasing from tins and placing on a wire rack to cool completely. At this point, you could even wrap cling film around each sponge individually and freeze the sponges for up to 3 months to use at a later date. 

The Birthday Cake Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

You can use any frosting with our Birthday Cake recipe BUT Swiss meringue buttercream is the best. This buttercream has somewhat of a reputation for being "complicated" however, our recipe is loved by novice bakers all across the world who ALL admit it is far easier than it seems, completely undeserving of its reputation, and above all, the most forgiving buttercream to decorate with and most delicious buttercream to eat.

Now, if that's the feedback of how good this buttercream is from people with limited baking experience, then you owe it to yourself to try it out if you never have. We promise you, you won't look back at your crusty, super-sweet American frosting. 

Swiss meringue buttercream is the best buttercream there is because of its:

• Flavour - it uses half the amount of sugar as normal buttercream. It's perfectly balanced in sweetness
• Texture - melt-in-mouth silky smoothness. It never forms a crust and never goes grainy
• Stability - it's great to use in between cake sponge layers and for piping as it holds its shape and volume
• Versatility - you can flavour it with anything from fruit juices, chocolate, caramel, booze and spreads

Ingredients for the Swiss Meringue Buttercream

125g Egg whites (approx. egg whites of 4 eggs)

185g Granulated sugar

250g Butter, cubed and at room temp

¼ tsp Salt

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Method For Swiss Meringue Buttercream For Cake Recipe

1) Place egg whites and caster sugar in a squeaky clean stand mixer bowl (or any large mixing bowl if you do not have a stand mixer) over a simmering saucepan of water on medium heat. This is called a bain marie or a double boiler. There are two important points to note here - The bowl MUST BE SUPER CLEAN with no traces of grease and make sure the water in the saucepan does not touch the bottom of the bowl containing the egg whites and sugar. Whisk with a hand whisk until all sugar is dissolved, the mixture is frothy and has reached 60 degrees Celsius or is hot to touch.

2) Place the stand mixer bowl into the stand mixer and whisk on high speed with the whisk attachment until the mixture has reached glossy peaks and the bowl is cool to touch. If using a hand-mixer, mix on medium until the mixture starts thickening and then switch to high (to avoid splatters). This is now the Swiss meringue base.

3) Add in vanilla, salt and soft cubes of butter on low speed till all combined.

The mixture will look curdled and splitty and scare you. This is known as the chunder stage. Don't worry or panic.

Keep whipping on high until it all comes together as a smooth and silky buttercream (takes about 5-8 minutes to reach this stage, and a bit longer by hand-mixer).

You now have the most delicious buttercream known to man and can further flavour it with cocoa powder, fruit purees, lemon juice, caramel, spiced rum, anything you fancy. 

Decorating The Birthday Cake

Now that you have your sponges and buttercream ready, let's get to the super fun part - the decorating! You can go as simple, or as dressy as you want. Keep the layers naked, or cover them completely with buttercream. Keep it simple with sprinkles or fruit and nuts, or add a glossy chocolate drip. Here's how to do it up.

1) Place your cake board (or even a plate) on the turntable and smear two tablespoons of frosting in the centre.

Fix a sponge layer in the middle of the cake board and using a palette knife spread a layer of frosting evenly on top.

Sandwich with the other sponge layer and spread another even layer of frosting on the top. Spread a thick layer of frosting on the sides using the palette knife, and smooth out with the edge of the palette knife or cake scraper.

You can crumb coat if you like but you don't really need to. 

2) You can now glaze the cake using our tried, tested and highly hailed Chocolate Drip Cake Recipe. Or pipe swirls of buttercream using a star nozzle and a piping bag over the top.

We're absolutely certain you'll be making the perfect birthday cake with this recipe and can't wait to see how you decorate yours!

Please don't forget to show off your creations of easy and simple cake recipes by tagging @angesdesucre and #angesdesucre on Instagram. I'm sure they'll be worth all the heart-eye emojis in the world.

Lots of love,

Reshmi xoxo

And if baking your own birthday cake isn't possible check out our Birthday Cakes here which can be delivered anywhere in London and nearby.