Birthday Cake!

Many of you know that I just love all things flavored like birthday cake. Here in Chico, I just can't get enough of Jon & Bon's birthday cake frozen yogurt with rainbow sprinkles. Yep, it's pretty amazing. Well today is Molly's 25th birthday, and for the celebration last evening my only duty was to bake Molly a delicious fall cake. She was craving carrot-like cake, so I searched and searched and found the following recipe. It was out-of-this-world delicious!

Buttermilk Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups brown sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch salt
1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease 2 9-inch cake pans. Cut 2 parchment paper rounds and line the pan bottoms. Grease and flour the parchment rounds.
3. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream the brown sugar and butter. With the mixer running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt into a medium-size mixing bowl.
5. Alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the batter, mixing well. 6. With the electric mixer, in another large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold them into the cake batter.
7. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until the center springs back when touched, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.
8. After the cakes have cooled, invert them onto sheets of parchment paper. Slice each cake in half and set aside.

Cream Cheese Frosting
I doubled this portion of the recipe because cakes are just easier to frost and eventually more delicious with additional frosting!

16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1.5 pounds (about 6 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the cheese and butter. Add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and milk, if needed to thin consistency, and mix well.