Happy Birthday, Anna-Marie!

It's not exactly "seasonal," but Pink Champagne Cake is a fluffy-licious birthday option for anyone who likes pale pink, vanilla beans, raspberries and sparkling wine.

The flavor is deeply nostalgic for many who grew up eating bakery birthday cakes. After some online research, I concluded it needed to be made with white cake mix, which carries a mysterious, artificial yet appealing vanilla-almond-cherry taste that's difficult if not impossible to replicate quite perfectly in a scratch cake. Pretty up the mix with Sofia Blanc de Blancs, vanilla beans, fluffy butter frosting and fresh raspberries, and the humble transforms to high-end. Is this the next Red Velvet?

PINK CHAMPAGNE CAKE WITH FLUFFY BUTTER FROSTING

Makes one 8-inch, 2-layer cake

1 (18.25 ounce) box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Classic White Cake premium cake mix (it's apparently important not to use a mix with pudding in it)

1 1/3 cups sparkling wine (I bought a 4-pack of Sofia Blanc de Blancs in cans -- it's cheaper than opening a bottle of similar quality, and after you're done making the cake and the frosting, you'll still have 2 cans to spare)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 large egg whites

Seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean

3-4 drops red gel food coloring

1 recipe Fluffy Butter Frosting

1 pint fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour two metal 8-inch cake pans. Blend together cake mix, sparkling wine, oil, egg whites and vanilla seeds in a large bowl at low speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add food coloring to achieve desired pink color. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake immediately for 32-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Meanwhile make Fluffy Butter Frosting and cut the raspberries in half lengthwise.

Let the cake layers cool for a few minutes in their pans, and then turn them out onto metal racks to cool completely.* Use a serrated knife to slice the tops off each cake layer, so they won't be shaped like domes. Place the bottom cake layer on a cake stand or serving platter, and surround it underneath with a few small pieces of waxed paper, so you'll be able to pull them away when you're done frosting.

Place a big scoop of frosting on this bottom layer, and use an offset spatula to spread it evenly to the sides.

Place about 1/2 cup of frosting in a piping bag with a large, round tip. (If you don't have cake decorating tools, just place it in a heavyweight plastic zippered bag and cut a slit in the corner for piping). Pipe around the perimeter of this bottom layer, making a little bordered pool in which the raspberries will sit and not escape.Place about 2/3 of the raspberry halves in the pool, and top with just a smidge more frosting.

Now you're ready for the top layer. Turn it upside down, so the golden brown side is on top, and place it on the bottom layer and the raspberry pool. Place a big scoop of frosting on top of the cake, and spread it evenly. Place big dollops of frosting on the sides and frost upwards, meeting the top layer of frosting. (At this point you'll have a homey-looking frosted cake like mine. To make the frosting look smoother, refrigerate the cake for at least a half hour, and smooth it out using a spatula you've held over the gas flame on the stove for a while so that it's warm.)

Decorate the cake with the remaining berries, and serve.

*At this point, you could wrap each layer tightly in plastic and freeze it for up to a week. Many people prefer to do this, as cakes freeze well and are easier to decorate when they are frozen. However, I usually do not have such foresight, and I find this cake fairly resilient and easy to decorate without freezing it first.

For Fluffy Butter Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

8-9 cups confectioners sugar, divided

1/4 cup milk (use whatever fat level you're comfortable with)

1/4 cup sparkling wine

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

About 3 drops red food coloring

Beat butter until fluffy. Add 4 cups confectioners sugar and pulse to blend. Beat on high speed until fluffy. Add milk, wine, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds and salt; pulse to blend, and then beat on high speed until fluffy. Add 4 more cups confectioners sugar and pulse to blend. Beat on high speed until fluffy. Beat in 1 more cup of confectioners sugar if you'd like a stiffer texture. Add food coloring to achieve desired pink color. Frost cake while the frosting is at room temperature.