Confetti Layer Cake
 
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.
 
Confetti Cake
 
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 - Blue Icing And Hundreds & Thousands
 
 

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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. 

 

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