Confetti Cake with Malted Cream Cheese Frosting

This week, I wanted to go for something simple, celebratory, and nostalgic: birthday cake! My goal with this recipe was to develop a cake that felt celebration-worthy but that’s barely any harder or more time consuming than making cake from a box. In this spin on a classic Funfetti cake, I make a super easy one-bowl loaf cake that’s tender and moist from lots of buttermilk and layered with a slightly tangy malted cream cheese frosting.

You can easily make this cake entirely by hand with only about 30 minutes of active time. The most intimidating thing about this cake will be layering it, but I really encourage you to try it! Just take it slow, and if your cake cuts unevenly just remember that frosting can heal even the ugliest of wounds. If you’d rather not take a chance on splitting the cake, you can absolutely just heap the frosting on top; it will still be adorable and delicious.

Alternatively, you could skip the frosting and eat the cake plain or with a sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar, though I think this frosting is really worth the effort. The combination of vanilla and malted milk yields a delightful flavor reminiscent of an old-fashioned malted milkshake. Whether it’s for a birthday or just a reward for getting out of bed in the morning, this cake is fit for all of your celebrations.

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History

Why do we eat cake on our birthdays? Well, it really is rather fitting: modern birthday cakes are perfect for celebrations and gatherings. They’re sweet, of course, but they’re also large enough to serve a number of people and easy to decorate in a way that makes them feel special. This tradition is generally accepted as dating back to Ancient Rome, when notable citizens’ (such as members of the senate) 50th birthdays were commemorated with a yeast-leavened “cake” sweetened with honey. These roman cakes were quite different from the birthday cakes we know now, which are lighter, chemically leavened, and usually covered in frosting.

The true origins of contemporary birthday cake are, unfortunately, rather unclear. It is believed, however, that 18th and 19th century Germans celebrated birthdays with cake in a way that had quite a bit in common with modern American birthday festivities. In 1746, German Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf celebrated his birthday with a massive cake that was documented by Andrew Frey, one of his guests. This celebration is sometimes cited as one of the inspirations of the tradition. Around this time period, German bakeries are said to have begun selling cakes specifically intended for birthday celebrations, which became widespread after the industrial revolution made the ingredients for sweet cakes (particularly sugar) more affordable to the general public.

Once cakes were accessible to the masses, it wasn’t long before they became a common sight on children’s birthdays, adorned with candles just as we do today (a tradition theorized to have been created by the Greeks to honor Artemis, goddess of the hunt, the moon, and several other things).

The Recipe: Confetti Cake with Malted Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cake:

butter, oil, or baker’s spray for the pan

150g (¾ cup) granulated sugar

1 large egg

240g (1 cup) buttermilk

120g (½ cup) neutral-flavored oil, such as canola

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon morton kosher salt or 1 teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt

150g (1 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons of rainbow sprinkles (the long, waxy kind), plus more to decorate

For the frosting:

56g (4 tablespoons/ ½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

113g (8 tablespoons/ ½ block) cream cheese, at room temperature

85g (¾ cup) confectioner’s sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

17g (2 tablespoons) malted milk powder

To assemble:

60g (¼ cup) buttermilk (optional, but recommended)

rainbow sprinkles

To make the cake:

Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 350°f. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with butter, oil, or baker’s spray and line with a strip of parchment paper so that it covers most of the bottom of the pan, comes up the sides, and there’s enough overhang that you’ll be able to pull the cake out with it.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar and egg and whisk vigorously for about a minute, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth, thick, and pale yellow. Add the buttermilk, oil, extracts, and salt and whisk until thoroughly combined and there are no streaks of oil. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk gently just until combined. The batter shouldn’t be excessively lumpy but you should try not to overmix. Once it’s relatively smooth, add the sprinkles and give it one more whisk. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with no raw batter clinging to it. Some moisture or small crumbs are fine. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the pan and using the parchment to lift the cake out. Set the cake on a serving plate to cool completely, at least another hour. The baked cake can be stored airtight at room temperature for 1 day before serving.

To make the frosting:

Combine the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed or by hand with a spoon until homogenous and smooth. Add the sugar and continue to mix until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Finally, add the vanilla and milk powder and continue to mix until everything is combined and you have a fluffy but somewhat soft frosting. If you’re doing this in a warm kitchen you may find that the frosting is a little loose, as this frosting has a naturally softer consistency. If this is the case, just stick the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes until you have your desired texture. The finished frosting can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days before using.

To assemble:

You have two options for assembling this cake. You could absolutely just take the loaf as it is, pile the frosting on top with a spoon, decorate it with sprinkles and serve. Alternatively, you can do what I did and layer it. To layer it, use a long serrated knife to cut through the middle of the cake, separating it into two layers. Using a pastry brush or a spoon, soak the exposed cake of the bottom layer in half of the buttermilk. Top with half of the frosting, then place the other half of the cake cut side up on top. Soak with the remaining buttermilk, spread the last of the frosting on top, decorate with as many sprinkles as your heart desires, and serve! The completed cake will keep, wrapped tightly in the fridge, for up to 3 days.

Resources:

Arefi, Yossy. Snacking Cakes: Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings. Crown, 2021.

“Birthday Cakes: History & Recipes - New England Recipes.” Accessed February 1, 2023. http://mobile.newenglandrecipes.org/Birthday-Cake.pdf.

Francois, Zoe. Zoe Bakes Cakes. Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale, 2021.

Frey, Andreas. A True and Authentic Account of Andrew Frey, Containing the Occasion of His Coming among the Herrnhuters or Moravians .. London: printed by J. Robinson, 1753.