Easy Birthday Cake Recipe

January is full of birthdays and other celebrations for our family (my wedding anniversary also happens to be in January), so I find myself making a lot of cake. One certain cake to be exact. It's so versatile and always, always, always turns out just the way I was hoping, which is great because I have a tendency to burn any type of baked good. Over the years I have adjusted the recipe to my own tastes and preferences. It's one of those cakes that is perfect with any type of fruit. Strawberries in the summer, raspberries in the fall and blueberries (Emory's favorite) in the winter. Plus, it can be whipped up and cooling in about an hour.

Magnificant Fruit Sponge Cake:

Cake Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
1 Tbls baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs (I usually only use one egg and substitute the other egg with 1 cup of sour cream)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup water

Center:
Your choice of fruit jam and any fresh fruit

Frosting:
1 8 oz carton of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Cake:
Mix together all of the dry goods until well combined. Create a bowl-like-space in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the eggs, vanilla, sour cream if you are using it, and 1/2 cup of water. Whisk together all of the ingredients adding the additional water until you have a smooth and viscous batter. Should kind of resemble pancake batter. Split the batter into two 9x9 cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes.  Allow the cake to completely cool before frosting.

For the Center:
Once the cakes have cooled completely, pop them out of their pans. Spread your jam and add the fresh fruit on top of one of the cakes. Make it as thick as you want. This will be the middle of your cake. Place the remaining cake on top of the one with jam and fruit. Press lightly to adhere them together.

For the Frosting:
Pour all of the frosting ingredients into a metal bowl or mixer. Mix on medium-high speed until the cream has whipped and become spreadable. Spread the whipped cream on top and around the entire two-tier cake. Decorate the cake with remaining fruit.