Wave Birthday Cake (Yellow Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting & Vanilla Oreo Filling)

One of the few things that my daughter loves as much as her birthday is the beach. That being said, she naturally chose a “wave” theme for her celebratory 14th birthday cake this year. 🙂

The cake recipe was adapted from Kathleen’s Bake Shop Cookbook: The Best Recipes from Southampton’s Favorite Bakery for Homestyle Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Muffins, and Breads by Kathleen King. The vanilla cream cheese frosting recipe was adapted from various sources. It was incredibly moist and absolutely delicious.

Similar to my husband, my daughter requests a similar birthday dinner annually, calzones. 🙂 This year we started the day with pumpkin doughnut muffins instead of crumb cake though! Her traditional birthday number cookies were orange inspired by monarch butterflies- another love.

For the Yellow Cake:

Yield: Makes one 9-inch 2-layer cake

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup (245g/8.6 oz) sour cream
• vanilla cream cheese frosting, recipe below

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, preferably on convection.
2. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper and grease the parchment. Dust with flour and shake out the excess.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. In another large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
5. Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
6. Beat in vanilla.
7. Add dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream, ending with the dry ingredients.
8. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.
9. Fold egg whites into cake batter, and pour into the prepared pans. (I weigh the pans to evenly distribute the batter.)
10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
11. Remove pans to a wire rack. Cool 10 minutes before removing cake from pans; finish cooling on a rack (parchment paper side down).

For the Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting and Oreo Filling:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 6 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 7 vanilla Oreos, crushed in a food processor, plus more for the decorative “sand”
• blue gel food coloring

1. Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat, on low-speed to combine.
4. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.
5. Meanwhile, place one of the cake layers on a serving platter or cake stand.
6. Remove 1 1/4 cup of frosting for the Oreo filling and place in separate bowl.
7. Incorporate the crushed Oreos in the reserved 1 1/4 cups of filling icing. Spread over the top of the first layer of cake.
8. Place the second layer, inverted, on top.
9. Tint the remaining frosting pale blue with food coloring, mixing well.
10. Cover cake with a crumb coat and chill briefly, if necessary before continuing.
11. Using an offset spatula, ice the sides of the cake with the pale blue frosting. (I used a relatively thin coat.) Reserve 1/4 cup of the pale blue frosting if needed for touchups.
12. Tint the remaining frosting deeper “ocean blue.” Place in a pastry bag fitted with an open star piping tip.
13. Then, starting at the bottom of the cake, pipe “waves” of varying sizes. Fill in beneath the upper border.
14. Pipe “waves” of varying sizes on the top of the cake. Fill in beneath the upper border.
15. Crush additional vanilla Oreos in a food processor. Sprinkle in the center of the cake and around the outer edge of the serving platter for the decorative “sand.”
16. Chill prior to serving and store any leftover cake in the refrigerator.