Confetti Layer Cake
33
Boys like blue icing. End of matter! Finito! There is no room for discussion. They will not even consider another colour, like maybe white? No siree! Not in our home. So when it comes to birthday cakes, I don’t really have much of a say where icing is concerned. I have to make it blue and not too sugary. Then they will eat it. Provided of course, the cake is buttery and just the way they like it. Plain!
A few years ago, I found the perfect butter cake recipe that my boys deemed fit to put in their mouths. I clung to that recipe for dear life. I made copies of it and stuffed it everywhere, lest I should lose what would become a cherished heirloom that I would pass on to their wives. Because I knew in my heart, they would always be fussy about birthday cakes.
So every birthday, I whip out that recipe. I can scale it up or down, it is so versatile. The base recipe serves 8 people. So I make multiple cakes and layer them to serve more people. I tamper only with the flavouring. Last year, I baked the cake recipe 5 times, each time with a different flavour and then layered them all to get a fabulous 5 layer cake.
Last week Rivs turned 8. He requested – a plain cake with blue icing. Surprise!! *rolls eyes*. Using my excellent salesmanship, I convinced him that he would love it if I put a zillion hundreds and thousands in it and on top of it and we called it a Confetti Cake! It would be fun. Now he gets excited very easily, just like me. So he nodded enthusiastically. But the icing will be blue? he confirmed. Yes dear! I sighed.
I love this cake so much, I am thinking of baking one for me this year on my birthday. Shades of creams in buttery layers!
CONFETTI LAYER CAKE
{The recipe and time below is for 1 cake. To make the layer cake in the photo, you will have to bake the cake twice and layer it to serve 16}
Preparation Time – 15 minutes
Baking Time – 1 hour 10 minutes
Serves – 8
Ingredients
for the cake
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon strawberry flavouring
1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup hundreds and thousands + extra to sprinkle
for the icing
200g unsalted butter, softened
120g pure icing sugar
2 teaspoons blue edible colour
3 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons milk
Method
to make the cake
Preheat oven to 150C (300F). Grease and line a 32cmx23cm rectangle cake tin or 20cm round cake tin with baking paper.
Place butter, vanilla, sugar, strawberry flavouring, eggs, flour, salt baking powder and milk in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low speed until combined for about 3 to 4 minutes. Increase speed to high and beat for a minute until smooth. Stir through the hundreds and thousands gently with a wooden spoon.
Spoon batter into prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes until golden and cooked through when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and cooling completely.
to make the icing
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until combined, smooth and fluffy. At this point I always go by feel. If the icing is too dense and soggy, add a tablespoon of icing sugar and continue mixing until smooth and fluffy.
to serve
If making just one cake, swirl the icing on top with an icing spatula and sprinkle with hundreds and thousands.
If making a layer cake, spread a very thin layer of icing (like buttering a bread) on one cake. Place the other cake on top and ice liberally with icing. Sprinkle with hundreds and thousands.
Notes
Cake Variations
- Spiced Butter Cake – Omit the hundreds and thousands and strawberry flavouring. Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice to the batter.
- Lemon Butter Cake – Omit the hundreds and thousands and strawberry flavouring. Add finely grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to the batter.
- Orange Butter Cake – Omit the hundreds and thousands and strawberry flavouring. Add finely grated rind of 1 orange to the batter.
- Coffee Butter Cake – Omit the hundreds and thousands and strawberry flavouring. Add 2 tablespoons instant coffee mixed with 1 tablespoon hot water to the batter.
- Chocolate Butter Cake – Omit the hundreds and thousands and strawberry flavouring. Add 1/3 cup cocoa powder to the batter.
Happy birthday to your sweet lil boy ! Guess I should copy your idea (your son’s) of blue icing. My lil boy turns 4 in a couple of months and I think he will love this cake.I tried confetti cupcakes a couple of times and kids love it
Namitha´s last [type] ..Shrimp Masala -Kerala Style (Konchu Ulathiyathu)
You are such a lovely Mommy
:)
Loved reading the post SO much! Boys and their choice of food and their love for ‘blue’ LOL LOL
Well, I had to learn multiple recipes from my mother in law as the husband doesn’t like his favorites in any other way!
kankana´s last [type] ..Mixed Berry Lassi
Gorgeous! You are a great Mum
It is the opposite at our place – everything is pink! But I love it
Christie´s last [type] ..Can you guess what these are?
So pretty and tempting! I love that color.
Cheers,
Rosa
What a perfect birthday cake – it looks like celebration on a platter!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)´s last [type] ..raspberry loaf cake with chambord glaze
Happy birthday to your little guy! He’s a lucky guy… that cake looks lovely! Like a party on a plate!
SarahKate (Mi Casa-Su Casa)´s last [type] ..There’s no place like home
If boys love blue icing, girls adore colorful sprinkles. My daughter would eat anything with sprinkles on them. LOL! This is a lovely cake, but I bet te boys wouldn’t want something lovely, they’d want something cool. Blue is cool. So i guess i’d just say, this cake is cool
myfudo´s last [type] ..easy desserts & recipes: cherry blossom & matcha layer cake (entremet)
Happy birthday!!! I love the cake!!
seriously i just cannot stop staring at that last pic! the ripples in the icing is just so glorious and 100′s & 1000′s always makes me smile. happy birthday to your son!
Latish in the evening I am sitting at the computer roaring with laughter! Now, I do not bake for the simple reason I do not eat ‘sweet stuff’. But I have never ever seen anything so much fun and so original in looks! Yes, I know there are variations, but the next time someone of suitable age has a boy-birthday, guess what I’ll try to make, hundreds and thousands and all
!
I love all the different variations of flavour you’ve suggested for this family favourite. Yum.
thelittleloaf´s last [type] ..Real Bourbon Biscuits
Very cute combo of colours & stripes + dots. I’ll make the coffee butter for Mom as this Sun is Mom’s Day here in the States. Thanks, Sneh!
Coco´s last [type] ..Exotique Spice Mixes
Hilarious post! He’ll eventually grow out of it.
pickyin @ LifeIsGreat´s last [type] ..Pandan Ombre Cake with Gula Melaka Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
I have to agree… boys do like blue icing. Actually, men like it too. Now I want blue icing.
Brian @ A Thought For Food´s last [type] ..Food and Travel: Torino, Italy + Porta Palazzo
[...] See her work in progress here.Pin Of The Day : Toilet Roll Seedlings : Click For More DetailsAlso: Confetti Layer Cake from Cook Republic Blue! The Vintage Blues, to be exact. At Design is Mine. Mother’s Day [...]
Haha – you’re such a wonderful mom! The cake sounds great, too. Your boy must’ve been very pleased.
Willow´s last [type] ..Classic French Onion Soup – mon petit amour!
What a gorgeous and fun cake. Boys are so funny. One year I spent hours slaving over making a treasure chest birthday cake for my stepsons birthday and when he saw it he simply muttered the word cool and then moved onto finding out what presents he got. I’ve since learned simple is best and your cake is simply gorgeous. Happy birthday to your son!
Jennifer (Delicieux)´s last [type] ..Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes
What a great birthday cake!! LOVE!
Looks yummy and so cute, too.
What a fun and festive cake! Happy Birthday to Rivs!
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen´s last [type] ..Eating in Good Health
I love the confetti cake and the colour of the icing – turquoise is my favourite colour. Hope they all enjoyed it!
Beautiful colours! Im such a sucker for sprinkles. Im that adult that sits next to fairy bread at kids parties
lol
Nic@diningwithastud´s last [type] ..What’s your cup of tea?
Yummy looking cake! Happy birthday to the lil one!
najwa kronfel´s last [type] ..Strawberry Galette
That really is a gorgeous shade of blue. Happy Birthday to your little boy
chinmayie @ love food eat´s last [type] ..Banana Walnut Oat Bars (Vegan, Sugar-free & Oil-free)
Omg those look so good I am begging to have one!
What a fun cake! Everyone loves sprinkles! My son is quite picky about his frosting color too…since he mostly just licks it off and doesn’t bother with the cake.
it does look lovely even if it is blue. maybe i should try something so simple, my daughter in particular does not really like cake!
muppy´s last [type] ..Pork Belly Confit and a Pork Masterclass at Restaurant Atelier
Love the way you inject so much love into everything you do!!! They are cherish-able moments and your writing and cooking/baking remind me to do just that – cherish those now-moments!!! Thank you.
Of course want blue icing! Looks fabulous Sneh. I’m bookmarking this cake recipe as I’m always on the lookout for new ones to try.
Peter G | Souvlaki ForThe Soul´s last [type] ..The best Getaway. Ever.
he he thanks Peter! If you are looking to try out new cakes, you must must try this one out .. the boozier the better, the flavours are just amazing! http://www.cookrepublic.com/recipe-archive/coconut-lime-cake-with-rum-frosting/
I’m going to make this for Z’s 10th Birthday dinner tomorrow night! But in a round shape and I’ll ice all around to hide the “surprise” of sprinkles in the batter
Martyna@WholesomeCook´s last [type] ..Pearl Barley (+ Cacao) Porridge
[...] for all the birthdays. These days I only bake for three of those special days. But I only use one cake recipe. One cake recipe, year after year presented in the most unusual and creative way I can come up [...]
[...] for all the birthdays. These days I only bake for three of those special days. But I only use one cake recipe. One cake recipe, year after year presented in the most unusual and creative way I can come up [...]