Easy Birthday Cake

• 2+1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1+ 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1+1/2 cups milk
• 3 eggs
Buttercream Icing (This is a double recipe for a layer cake)
• 2 sticks butter, at room temp
• 4 teaspoons butter flavoring (Can use clear vanilla instead)
• 6 cups confectioner's sugar
• 4-8 tablespoons milk

Instructions

For cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray two 9 inch cake pans liberally with cooking spray, or grease and flour. (Can also use 9x13 pan or line 24 muffin tins with paper liners for cupcakes).
2. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl and cream together with an electric mixer.
3. In medium sized bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt with a spoon. In a separate bowl, stir together eggs, milk, and vanilla until well combined.
4. Add half of the wet and dry mixtures to the creamed butter and mix until well combined. Add the remaining and continue mixing until fully blended and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
5. If you want to add sprinkles, gently stir them using a spoon in after batter is fully blended.
6. Divide batter evenly among cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until lightly browned and center springs back when lightly pressed. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for ten minutes before turning out to cool completely.
Buttercream icing
7. In a large bowl, cream the butter and about 1 cup of confectioner's sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the butter flavoring, half of the milk, and remaining sugar and beat again until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides and adding a little extra milk if needed.
8. Ice cooled cake.