Grown-Up Birthday Cake

["Recipe by\u00a0Midge<\/a>. Recipe appears in\u00a0 The Food52 Cookbook, Volume 2<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(William Morrow Cookbooks, 2012), by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs.\u00a0Reprinted with permission from the authors.\u00a0Photo credit: Sarah Shatz for\u00a0

Ingredients

For The Cake

Butter for the pans
2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil
1 cup raspberry jam (preferably homemade, of course, but I use Bonne Maman)

For The Chocolate Buttercream Icing

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1⁄2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1⁄4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

To make the cake

Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter and lightly flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda into a bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for a minute. On low speed, mix in the vanilla, wine, and oil. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the batter just until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks.