Sticky Confetti Cake
A rainbow of colour and flavour! This sticky confetti cake from the GBBO: Learn to Bake recipe book looks super fun and makes for the perfect birthday surprise.
Introduction
A flat sheet of sponge can be turned into any number of different cakes – perfect for big parties and for school bake sales and fairs.
Ingredients
| 125g | unsalted butter, at room temperature |
| 125g | caster sugar |
| 2 | eggs, at room temperature |
| 150g | self-raising flour |
| 1 tbsp | milk |
| 1 tsp | vanilla extract |
| 5 tbsp | coloured sugar hundreds-and-thousands OR sugar strands OR coloured sweets |
| For the icing: | |
| 250g | icing sugar |
| 100g | unsalted butter, at room temperature |
| 1 tbsp | milk |
Essential kit
You will need a 20.5 x 25.5 x 5cm tray-bake or cake tin, hand-held electric mixer (or wooden spoon!) and a plastic or rubber scraper.
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Grease and line the base of a 20.5cm x 25.5cm x 5cm tray-bake or cake tin.
Put the soft butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the eggs, flour, milk and vanilla.
Beat everything together with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until very smooth and even in colour. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time so all the ingredients get thoroughly combined. Add 2 tablespoons of the coloured sweeties and mix them in with a plastic or rubber scraper.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly, right into the corners. Place in the heated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the cake is starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin. To test if it’s cooked, use the fingertip test; if necessary, bake for 2-3 more minutes, then test again.
Set the tin on a wire rack. Loosen the cake in the tin, then leave to cool for 20 minutes. Remove from the tin, peel off the baking paper and leave to cool completely.
To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into the washed mixing bowl. Add the soft butter and milk and beat well with the washed wooden spoon, or electric mixer on low speed, until very smooth and paler in colour. Sprinkle the remaining sweeties into the mixture and stir in.
Spread the icing over the top of the cold cake using a table knife. Leave to firm up in a cool spot before cutting into squares, slices or rectangles. Store in an airtight container in a cool spot (not the fridge) and eat within 4 days.
