Prepare your tins and oven. Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) or 350°F. Grease two 20cm (8-inch) round cake tins and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. The scent of a warm oven is the first note of comfort.

Whisk the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt. You'll see the pale, sandy mixture become aerated and uniform—this is the foundation of our fluffy crumb.

Work in the butter. Add the cubed, softened butter to the dry mixture. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed, or a hand mixer, beat until the mixture resembles damp, coarse sand. This should take about 2 minutes. You should see no large lumps of butter, and the mixture will feel cool and slightly clumpy between your fingers.

Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate jug or bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla paste, and yogurt until they are fully combined and look like a pale, creamy liquid.

Add the wet to the dry. With the mixer on low speed, pour the wet ingredients into the dry butter-flour mixture in a steady stream. Mix until just combined—stop the moment you see a smooth, thick batter. Overmixing at this stage will activate the gluten and make the cake tough. The batter will look glossy and smell intensely of sweet vanilla.

Divide and bake. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared tins, smoothing the tops with a spatula. Tap each tin gently on the counter to release any large air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes. You'll know they're done when the tops are a deep, golden brown, the edges have pulled away slightly from the tin, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. The kitchen will smell like a bakery.

Cool completely. Let the cakes cool in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes. The cakes will feel firm but tender. Then, turn them out onto the wire rack, peel off the parchment paper, and let them cool completely. Do not attempt to frost them while they are even slightly warm—the frosting will slide right off.