Birthday Snack Cake
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Light and perfectly fluffy white cake is topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and all natural nonpareil sprinkles. I bake this in a classic 9 x 9-inch pan, making this Birthday Snack Cake a simple homemade cake recipe for any occasion!
If you love snack cakes as much as I do, be sure to check out my Sourdough Carrot Snack Cake, Honey Lemon Blueberry Snack Cake, or my Raspberry Lemon Snack Cake.
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Perfect for Any Party: This is the only cake you'll ever need for literally any occasion. I'm calling it the Birthday Snack Cake because it's a classic white cake with chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles – which is a quintessential birthday cake flavor. But, this simple homemade cake is a great recipe for any occasion!
One Layer: This simple homemade cake is made a 9 x 9-inch baking pan, making it one easy layer cake. I love one layer cakes as they are more rustic, freeform, and very casual. They have the perfect ratio of cake to frosting and it's just the right amount of cake for me.
Natural Sprinkles: I use all natural nonpareil sprinkles here, with no artificial colors. These naturally colored sprinkles are made with plant based dyes so you can celebrate naturally!
Ingredients
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
Florida Crystals Organic Powdered Sugar
NuNaturals Organic Dutch Cocoa Powder
ColorKitchen Foods Nonpareil Confetti Sprinkles
Tools Needed
Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
Parchment Paper (use code MIMIBAKES for 10% off Kana, my favorite non toxic parchment paper!)
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Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Step 2
To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites. Whisk on low, then gradually increase speed as the egg whites start to thicken and continue until you are at full speed. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a separate bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (no need to wash the bowl), add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla extract and mix on low until combined. Then set a timer and mix for 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. The butter should be light in color.
Add the milk, cake flour, baking powder, and fine sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again to combine completely.
With the mixer on low, add in small bits of the egg whites and mix to combine completely. Continue to do so until all egg whites have been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix until a smooth batter forms. Transfer the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Step 3
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pan. (Make sure to follow the instructions in the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for baking times for high altitude.)
Step 4
To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, and milk. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high for 1 to 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Spread the frosting onto the cake
Spread the frosting onto the cake and sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles.
Baker's Tips
- I use a 9 x 9-inch baking pan for this cake. I prefer to use USA Pan's 9 x 9-inch pan as it is truly the best. The little ridges in their pans really help cakes rise and bake evenly, especially if you are at high altitude. Their pans are very inexpensive for how much of a difference they make, so I highly recommend getting one, especially if you are just using a glass dish – their pan will be a major upgrade.
- I make a classic white cake using egg whites. Save the egg yolks and make one of my pudding recipes like From Scratch Banana Pudding or From Scratch Chocolate Pudding.
- Make sure your butter is soft. This is key for any cake recipe that calls for butter to be softened. Now that it's getting warm, I love leaving out butter overnight and letting is often naturally at room temperature overnight, as I think it softens best this way. But, if you need to microwave it, then make sure to only to 10 seconds at a time per ½ cup, you may need to do 2 intervals of that depending on how cold your butter is.
- You can use any kind of milk for this cake recipe, I actually used coconut milk when I made this one as I just had it in my fridge. So, if you don't have regular whole milk, then coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk – they would all work just fine and have a slightly different flavor. So that's totally up to you, to use what kind of milk you prefer.
- Make sure that you mix your final batter and egg whites together until you do not see any pockets of egg whites. This is a delicate thing, as you don't want to over mix at this stage as you don't want to break the egg whites. However, you need to make sure you mix enough that there are no pockets of egg whites left as that will create small holes in a portion of you cake and the texture will be unpleasant. So, if you've mixed and then still see egg whites then take your spatula and fold them in until they are completely incorporated.
- Make sure you allow your cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan. You can even bake the cake the night before, place your pan in the fridge, and then the following day you can remove it and frost. This way, you know the cake is cooled enough, and if it's chilled it will come out the pan very easily without any breakage.
- You can use any kind of sprinkles you like. This cake would even be delicious with chocolate sprinkles (I debated using them instead!) as well as the traditional kind of rainbow sprinkles, I've linked my favorite all natural kind here.
FAQ's
Yes, I provide a simple substitution for gluten free in the Notes at the bottom of the recipe.
Any kind of sprinkles you like, fresh fruit, nuts, or caramel sauce.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Craving More?
Birthday Snack Cake
Ingredients
Batter
- 3 large egg whites
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 226 grams cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk (room temperature)
- 212 grams cake flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Frosting
- 170 grams salted butter (softened)
- 284 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 43 grams Dutch cocoa powder (sifted)
- 2 tablespoons milk
Topping
- Natural nonpareil sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites. Whisk on low, then gradually increase speed as the egg whites start to thicken and continue until you are at full speed. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a separate bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (no need to wash the bowl), add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla extract and mix on low until combined. Then set a timer and mix for 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. The butter should be light in color.
- Add the milk, cake flour, baking powder, and fine sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again to combine completely.
- With the mixer on low, add in small bits of the egg whites and mix to combine completely. Continue to do so until all egg whites have been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix until a smooth batter forms.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pan.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, and milk. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high for 1 to 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting onto the cake and sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles.
- Store in a cake dome or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
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