My Mom's Birthday Cake

I made this cake for my mom's birthday a couple years ago. Every year since then, she requests it as her present from me. I actually look forward to making it every year.

Cake

1 box white cake mix (plus eggs, oil, and water)

Vanilla Custard Filling

1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding

1 c. milk

1 c. heavy whipping cream

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 lb. salted butter, room temperature

about 1 1/2 lbs. powdered sugar

1/4-1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

2 t. vanilla

First, mix cake according to package instructions with an electric mixer (I follow the egg white recipe so the cake is really white.) Pour cake batter into 2 well-greased 9" round cake pans. Bake at 350 F for only 22 minutes (I know, the box says to bake it for longer, but mine are always done faster.) Check for doneness and continue baking for 1-2 minutes as needed.

Right as they come out of the oven, gently loosen cakes from pans by shaking them side to side (that's how I do it!) Immediately dump hot cakes upside-down onto aluminum foil. Cool completely.

Wrap cakes in plastic wrap, set on a flat surface (like a cookie sheet) and place in freezer.

For the filling, mix pudding and milk. It'll be super thick after it sits for a couple minutes (that's good!)

While pudding mixture sits, pour cream into a COLD bowl and beat with COLD beaters until it's a nice whipped cream consistency.

Fold whipped cream into pudding mixture and mix gently until combined. Cover and refrigerate.

For frosting, beat butter until smooth.

Add powdered sugar, a few cups at a time, and mix well. Add vanilla and enough cream to form a fairly stiff frosting. (You can add more or less cream depending on your desired consistency.)

Now for the construction of the cake. Working with the frozen cakes, frost both of the rounded tops with a thin layer of frosting. This protects the cake from getting soggy from the filling.

Top one of the cakes with HALF of the filling (you'll just have to eat the rest!) Spread evenly, but not to the edge of the cake. Leave about 1/2" empty space around the edge.

Top with the other cake, top-side down.

Fill the middle with frosting all the way around. This prevents the custard filling from leaking out.

Frost the rest of the cake.

Decorate however you want. I just did a simple border.

Let the cake sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving. Otherwise, keep refrigerated.

Wow, that was a long post! But it's well worth the effort, I promise. The beauty of this cake is that you can make everything the day before, then just assemble it the next day! It's fun to make cakes. Enjoy!