Dad's Traditional Birthday Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp lime zest (or as much as you can get from your limes)
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 4 cups lightly sweetened whipped cream
• 6 to 8 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 lime, halved and thinly sliced (optional; I don't think we do this usually)

Method

• Preheat oven to 350° F; grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
• Place milk and butter in saucepan and heat until milk begins to simmer; remove from heat and let cool.
• Stir together sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl, then add milk mixture and stir well.
• Stir in flour, baking powder, lime zest, and salt.
• Pour mixture evenly into prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cake springs back to touch and is lightly browned on top.
• Cool for 20 minutes in pans, then remove and let cool completely.
• Cut layers in half horizontally and brush cut sides with lime juice.
• Place one layer cut side up on a serving platter. Top with 1 cup whipped cream and 1/4 of the kiwi slices.
• Repeat three times (cut side facing down the last time), then garnish top with lime slices if you like. Can be refrigerated before serving.

Notes

This has been the traditional birthday cake to make my dad since (I think) 2009. The original recipe comes from a Raley's magazine, which suggests making it as a Mother's Day cake. It also calls for undiluted limeade concentrate, like the stuff you get frozen and then thaw, instead of the lime juice we substitute.