Welcome back to Eat This! I apologize for the three-month hiatus, but this column is back for one last hurrah. The following recipe is likely the most complex and laborious that is shared by this publication, but the results are invariably rewarding. Momofuku Milk Bar, the dessert purveyor of the Momofuku chain, has released many of their coveted recipes, one being their popular birthday cake. This cake does not need to be made specifically for birthdays, however; it can be made to celebrate New Year’s, Mother’s or Father’s Day, or, in my case, graduation. This celebratory cake feels fitting, given that this is the last recipe that I am posting on The Grifter. With that, I leave you: I hope recreating these dishes was as exciting as it was sharing them. Happy cooking!

Momofuku Milk Bar’s Birthday Cake Recipe

Cake:

-4 tbsp. butter, at room temperature 

-1/3 cup vegetable shortening

-1 1/4 cups sugar

-3 tbsp. light brown sugar

-3 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

-1/3 cup grapeseed oil

-2 tsp. clear vanilla extract

-2 cups cake flour, sifted

-1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

-3/4 tsp. kosher salt

-1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 10×15 inch quarter sheet pan and line it with parchment paper. 

2. Combine the butter, shortening, and sugars in a bowl and cream together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs one at a time, and mix on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.

3. On low speed, stream in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and mix for 4 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous. There should be no streaks of fat or liquid. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. On very low speed, add the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and the rainbow sprinkles. Mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. Using a spatula, spread the cake batter in an even layer into the prepared pan. 

6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The cake will rise and puff, doubling in size, but will remain slightly buttery and dense. At 30 minutes, there should be no wet batter when a toothpick is inserted in the middle of the cake and the center should no longer be jiggly. Leave the cake in the oven for an extra 3 to 5 minutes if it’s not fully cooked.

7. Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire rack or in the fridge or freezer. The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days.

Crumbs:

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-1 1/2 tbsp. light brown sugar

-3/4 cup cake flour

-1/2 tsp. baking powder 

-1/4 tsp. kosher salt

-2 tbsp. rainbow sprinkles

-1/4 cup grapeseed oil

-1 tbsp. clear vanilla extract 

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

2. Combine the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles in a bowl and mix on low speed until well combined.

3. Add the oil and vanilla and mix again to distribute. The wet ingredients will act as glue to help the dry ingredients form small clusters; continue mixing until that happens.

4. Spread out on tray and bake for 10-12 minutes or until crumbs are golden on top.

5. Let the crumbs cool completely before using in the recipe. Stored in an airtight container, the crumbs will keep fresh for 1 week at room temperature or 1 month in the fridge or freezer.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 cup butter, at room temperature 

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

4oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tbsp. glucose 

2 tbsp. corn syrup 

2 tbsp. clear vanilla extract 

2 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt 

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. citric acid 

Steps:

1. Combine the butter, shortening, and cream cheese in a bowl and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

2. With the mixer on its lowest speed, stream in the glucose, corn syrup, and vanilla extract. Crank the mixer up to medium-high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is silky smooth and a glossy white. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Add the confectioners’ sugar, salt, baking powder, and citric acid and mix on low speed just to incorporate them into the batter. Crank the speed back up to medium-high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until you have a stark white, smooth frosting. Use the frosting immediately, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Cake Soak:

-1/4 cup milk

-1 tsp. clear vanilla extract

Steps:

1. Whisk together milk and vanilla extract.

Assembly:

1. Put a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Invert the cake onto it and peel off the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake. Use the 6 inch cake ring to stamp out 2 circles from the cake. These are your top 2 cake layers. The remaining cake scraps will come together to make the bottom layer of the cake.

Layer 1, the bottom

2. Clean the cake ring and place it in the center of a sheet pan lined with clean parchment paper. Use 1 strip of acetate to line the inside of the cake ring.

3. Put the cake scraps together inside the ring and use the back of your hand to tamp the scraps together into a flat even layer.

4. Dunk a pastry brush in the birthday cake soak and give the layer of cake a brush of a third of the soak.

5. Use the back of a spoon to spread about 1/2 cup of the frosting in an even layer over the cake.

6. Sprinkle one-third of the birthday crumbs evenly over the frosting. Use the back of your hand to anchor them in place.

7. Use the back of a spoon to spread another 1/2 cup of the birthday cake frosting as evenly as possible over the crumbs.

Layer 2, the middle

8. Set a cake round on top of the frosting, and repeat the process for layer 1.

Layer 3, the top

9. Nestle the remaining cake round into the frosting. Soak and cover the top of the cake with the remaining frosting. Give it a perfectly flat top. Garnish the frosting with the remaining birthday crumbs.

10. Transfer the sheet pan to the freezer and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours to set the cake and icing. The cake will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

11. At least 3 hours before you are ready to serve the cake, pull the sheet pan out of the freezer and, using your fingers and thumbs, pop the cake out of the cake ring. Gently peel off the acetate, and transfer the cake to a platter or cake stand. Let it defrost in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours. (Wrapped well in plastic, the cake can be refrigerated for up to 5 days).

12. Slice the cake into wedges and serve.