This gluten-free Confetti Birthday Cake proves that you can have your cake and eat it too
If you live with celiac disease—or just prefer less gluten in your diet—then Aimee Broussard’s twist on a classic birthday cake box mix is one way to celebrate without ditching the flavor or the festivity. Top it with some colorful sprinkles, add some candles that subtract from your real age (don’t worry, we won’t tell), and you can have your cake and eat it too!
CONFETTI BIRTHDAY CAKE (GLUTEN FREE)
Ingredients:
Cake:
Butter for pan
1 ½ cups 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup whole milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
1⁄3 cup rainbow sprinkles
Frosting and topping:
4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1-3 tsp. heavy (whipping) cream
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Rainbow sprinkles, for topping
Make Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-in. square baking pan with butter and line bottom with a round of parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together gluten-free flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk, oil, eggs, vanilla and almond extract, and mix until combined. Fold in sprinkles. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out mostly clean.
Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and set on wire rack to cool completely before frosting. Discard parchment.
Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter for 1 to 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, 1 tsp. cream, and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Add up to 2 additional tsp. cream until frosting reaches desired consistency and is easily spreadable.
Once cake has cooled completely, use an offset spatula to frost top of cake. Sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles. Cut into 9 slices to serve.
Note: Use longer rather than shorter sprinkles because they will keep their color and not bleed into the batter as much.
Makes 1 (8-in.) round cake; 9 servings.
Find more of Aimee’s original recipes on her website here, and read about her new cookbook in this story from the February 2022 issue of inRegister, available on newsstands now.
