(upbeat music) - [Narrator] We are Sorted, a group of mates who have your back when it comes to all things food, from cooking battles, to gadget reviews. - That is not worth it. - And cookbook challenges,
to a midweek meal packed app. - [App] Crack your eggs and bake. - [Narrator] We uncover the
tools that'll help us all cook and eat smarter. Join our community, where
everything we do starts with you. (upbeat music) (upbeat electronic music) - So many birthdays have been put on hold during this lockdown
period, so in this episode, we're gonna try and give
you some birthday cake inspo for when you actually do get to celebrate. The cake we're making today
is actually pretty famous. It's from a bakery called Milk Bar. (upbeat music) And the chef there has
actually been on Chef's Table, her name is Christina Tosi. The cake looks spectacular and I'm not well known for
my cake decorating skills, so I am dialing in Mr. Barry Taylor, our visual design expert. Hello mate, how are you? - I'm good! Now, I'm actually starting
to feel a little bit sorry for Ben. It's been about a decade since
he had a proper birthday. We keep interrupting his
birthday with filming. This cake looks incredible. It's the least Ebbers
looking cake I've ever seen. - I was quite interested in doing it, so that's what he's gonna get. (laughing) Okay, first thing I have
to make is the sponge. It's like a rainbow sprinkle sponge. Her stuff is all about childhood, so we should get on with it quite well. Butter, vegetable shortening,
a lot of caster sugar and a little bit of brown sugar, which I'm guessing is just a
little bit of extra flavor. So I'm just beating the
fats and the sugars together for two or three minutes, until they're kind of light and creamy. Okay, eggs go in. Doesn't say add them one at a time, so I'm gonna go all in at once. Oh mate, this is looking
silky smooth already. - Oh yeah, that looks overworked. - Overworked, oh, does it? I'm so glad I have an
expert here to help me. That is looking pretty good. All right, I'm going up to low speed and we're gonna pour in buttermilk. I've made my own buttermilk
with vinegar and whole milk, 'cause I couldn't find any buttermilk. And oil, just flavorless oil. I'm gonna pour in some
vanilla extract, as well. So, we're doing it until the
mixture is practically white, is what the recipe says, so once they're almost double in size and now I'm gonna add flour. Salt goes in and baking powder. The recipe calls for cake flour. In the UK, you can't get it, but it's very low protein flour, so it makes it really
cake-y, so what I did was mix cornflour into plain flour. These are all the sprinkles that are going into the sponge layers. - That looks unlike any other batter. - The next step is to put
it in a quarter sheet pan. - What's that? - So, Americans work in sheet pans, which is like, a standardized size. Instead of cooking it
into round cake tins, you cook it as a sheet
and then you cut it out. Yeah, and then what happens
is, you make the first layer out of the offcuts, so it's
super interesting actually and it's a good way to use up waste. Spread the cake batter and then another 25 grams
of rainbow sprinkles. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Okay, next step is to make
the birthday cake soak. It's milk and vanilla extract
in a bowl, mixed together. - So, you can drizzle
that over the sponge? - Keeps it moist, delicious, I
really like the idea of that. - The crumb is kind of the next
birthday cake element to it, it's the next backed element
and what I think it does is give a little bit of
texture in between the layers, so I'm imagining a short, crumbly texture, so it's not just all sponge,
it's something to bite into. Caster sugar, brown sugar, again, flavor. Flour, baking powder and salt. - More sprinkles, yes! - More sprinkles, here we go, they went in and we're gonna add vanilla extract. Also, vanilla extract is
an interesting one because Christina purposefully finds
low quality vanilla extract. There's a note saying that
she uses two specific brands because they're what most people relate to when they think of vanilla. I dunno if I can get on board with that. Oil's going in. So the idea is that this
literally just, kind of, like, starts clumping together in crumbs. (upbeat music) - Sorry, can we talk
frosting for a second? - We can talk frosting. - I'm really worried about the frosting. For me, the frosting gets in
the way of the cake, so often. Like, it's sometimes too
sweet and you can't taste, actually, the cake inside at all. - I'll be honest with
you, I think this cake is gonna be super sweet. So what we've got is icing
sugar, or confectioners sugar in the US, we've got cream
cheese, we've got citric acid, we've got salt, we've got baking powder, which I also think is really interesting. We've got, well, we've got golden syrup. It's supposed to be corn syrup, but that's the closest we can find. I'm hoping it doesn't color
it too much, 'cause, ooh. We've also got vegetable
shortening and butter. - It has to be clean white. - It has to be so white, doesn't it? - It would taste delicious without butter, you gotta scrap it, it's gotta look great. - So I'm beating together
the butter, the shortening and cream cheese. (mixer whirring) I'm ready to add the
glucose and the vanilla. Right, citric acid, baking powder and salt and combining that with icing
sugar and that's all going in. It's not looking as white as I might like. Ah! - I love watching James
flap, it's brilliant. You all right, mate? - Here you go. - That is pretty damn good, yes, yes! Well done. (beeping) - Oh my goodness.
- Uh-oh. - It's burnt, I've burnt
Ben's birthday cake. How did I burn a cake? - You're serious? - Yeah, it's burnt, look! (laughing) - That's not even a little bit burnt! - I can save this, don't
worry, I can save this. - Ooh! Wish I could be there to help. It's really comforting to see
how chefs can make mistakes as well, like, if it was a normal, you'd all be screaming
at the screen, going "Ugh, if only a chef was there making it." No, they're useless too! (upbeat electronic music) (cheering and applause) - [James] Invert the cake
onto a piece of parchment, or Silpat. - [Barry] In one go, keep
going, keep going, keep going, whip it off! - Oh no, this is, oh no, no! - Can't we just make a smaller cake? - No, I kinda like the idea
of doing it as she suggests. It was nice talking to
you, but I'm gonna do it. So I'm cutting just a tiny
bit less than the cake tin. - This is a bold move,
'cause there's no icing on the outside of this cake at all. - I know, mate, I know, stop it. I went quite small on the
first one 'cause I was scared and I went a bit too small
and the second one is bigger, but it's fine, it's fine,
because no one's gonna see that. - Wait, we're making a video on it, everyone can see your mistake! - No, no one can see it. So I have a lot of offcuts. - This is why he's not a pastry chef, 'cause he keeps going, "It'll
be fine, it'll be fine." They are looking for perfection. - I can still hear you.
- Sorry. - I have cut two sheets of acetate, get them really nice and tight in the pan. Put the cake scraps
together, inside the ring, use the back of your hand
to tap the scraps together into a flat, even layer. - Just make sure the outside
of the cake is pure sponge. - Dunk pastry brush in
the birthday cake soak and give the layer a good
healthy bath of half the soak. Use the back of a spoon to
spread a fifth of the frosting over the cake. I was so adamant that this
wasn't gonna be stressful. Birthday crumbs are going over. Okay, second fifth of frosting
over the top of the crumb. - Whenever I look at you in the kitchen, you are at your best,
until you put a cake, or a bit of pastry in front of you and you seem to turn into a normal. - I wouldn't go that far, my friend. Layer two, with your index finger, gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the ring and the top quarter inch of the first strip of acetate. Set a cake round on top of the frosting and repeat the process for layer one. Ah, ah! Okay, this is how it's gonna work. (exhaling) (electronic music) Milk, milk, milk. - So I'm guessing, again, like,
that moisture is there to, obviously, make it moist, but
also it will freeze later on to help bind everything, potentially? - Potentially, Barry, potentially. Yeah, I think I was a little too generous with the first amount of buttercream, which is a shame because it means that the two layers of buttercream
might be slightly uneven. Okay, crumb layer is in. Carve to get in. Oh God. (electronic music) - I think we're in trouble, mate. Oh, that's all you got? Right, let's see how it looks. Go on, spread it out, see how it looks. Mate, I think it's okay. - If I had used one less
tablespoon of icing. A bit neater this time, left
all the big crumbs to the end. - Yeah! You've done it, you've done it! - That could've gone
better, but it's in there and it doesn't look bad. Christina would freeze it for 12 hours and that just means the acetate
comes off really cleanly and then you can let it
come to room temperature for three hours or so,
before you wanna serve it. I'm gonna try and freeze
it for three to four hours, since that's all I've got and hopefully that's enough to freeze it, but it's still edible from the freezer. - Mate, you should be really
proud of what you done, but I'm not gonna lie, I
am nervous for the reveal. (upbeat music) (bell ringing) (cheering) James, are you ready? - Hey mate, I'm ready. I've got it out the freezer. - This bit now, it's all
about confidence, okay? You're a chef, you're trained
at this, this is what you do. - Are you coaching me? The problem that I have is that
because there's a little lip on the bottom, I'm gonna have
to press it into something to get it out. - No, you can't use
that, that's too small, the pressure's too focused in the middle. Can't you get--
- I did it. (laughing) - Oh, that was horrible! - It's all just coming apart. It's just doing it's own thing. Right, I'm gonna use the acetate to lift it onto the cake stand. - [Barry] Yeah, nice, nice, nice. - Oh, it's so perfect!
- Oh, yes! Are you happy?
- Yes. - Good. ♪ Have a hap hap happy birthday ♪ ♪ Have a hap hap happy birthday ♪ ♪ Happy birthday ♪ ♪ Here's a happy birthday to you ♪ (party horn) (upbeat electronic music) - Hey, mate.
- Hello. - Now, we know that your
birthday's coming up soon and once again, you're
gonna be spending it in less than ideal circumstances. - I mean, that's become quite
a habit of recent years. - We know, so we wanted
to make this one better and we've made you a cake! - Happy birthday, Ebbers!
- Happy birthday! - Oh, excellent!
- Yay! - It looks lovely! You got me balloons as well! - [James] Yes, well I
got me balloons, but. - This is like nostalgia all
in one, but then made elegant. That's so cool! - It should be with you in a few hours. - Wonderful!
- No, Ben, we're serious, like, we're gonna cut you a slice now and have it sent to you tonight. - Shall I cut it? - Just a thin slither, 'cause lockdown has been doing wonders for my waist so far. - No, no, it's your birthday,
Ben, it's your birthday. You must have a big slither. - [Ben] I wondered why you'd
all been so quiet today. - [James] Ooh, it cuts really
nicely, just a thin slither. - Mate, the journey in making
this has been quite intense. It started with James with
unbelievable confidence and then every five minutes,
doubting himself more and more, right until the last minute
where you have this reveal. - Look at that!
- Look! (upbeat music) - Ooh, that is weighty. Can you take another little slither off and just taste it for me?
- Yeah, I will. - [Ben] Nice. - What I like is the birthday crumb goes through the whole cake,
so you get it in the frosting, it's in each frosting layer
and you get that real crunch that you wouldn't get with any other cake and it does feel a little bit nostalgic. - I am very appreciative,
it's the thought that counts and the courier tuppaware
that makes the difference, so I look forward to it. - Well done, James. - I've got a candle
here, so when it arrives, I'll blow that out and try the cake. - That'll look suitably sad,
I think that's a good idea. - Okay, so now it's over to you guys. How did we do? This is the original
and this is our version. Comment down below with
your thoughts and also, make sure you give Ben some love. Wish him happy birthday in the comments and give this video a like and we will see you in
the next one, see ya. (upbeat music) We've also built the Sorted Club, where you can get tons of foodie inspo using the Packs Midweek Meal app, discover and share
restaurant recommendations using the Eat app, listen and contribute to our Feast Your Ears podcast and send us ideas for new cookbooks you'll receive throughout the year. Check it all out by
heading to sorted.club. (upbeat electronic music) And now a blooper. Ben, now firstly-- (child crying) - [Woman] Austin, please. (laughing) - I'm just playing with
Austin's random toys while we wait. (blowing raspberries)
