Sometimes you need a casual little one-layer cake, no messing around. And you might as well fold a load of smashed up candy in there, swoop some light and fluffy milk chocolate frosting and some rainbow sprinkles. It's only slightly childish to fill a cake with candy, and totally worth it; the smashed malt balls will create melty puddles of chocolate-toffee-ish goodness inside cake as it bakes.

This cake recipe makes twice as much as you need. You can just freeze half this batter for later, it never hurts to have frozen cake batter around for an emergency. Or if you want to go big, you could make all the cake batter and make two layers. Just double the frosting. This would be a fantastic birthday cake for children or childish adults.

vanilla malt cake:

adapted from smitten kitchen

2 cups plus 1 tablespoon cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
½ tsp table salt
3 tbs malt powder (optional but recommended!)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk soured with a splash of lemon juice)
⅔ cup slightly smashed malt balls, like Maltesers or Whoppers

Heat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 6" cake pan with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Cream butter and sugar together in a stand mixer until fluffy and light in colour. Add vanilla and eggs and beat to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat again until well incorporated.

On the lowest speed, mix in buttermilk. Add flour mixture in three additions; a little hand mixing with a spatula to incorporate before turning on the mixer will help prevent flour exploding everywhere. Scrape down bowl well.

Pour about 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set cakes on a rack until completely cool and run a knife around the edge so they come out of the pan cleanly. Reserve half the batter for another use, it freezes very well in an airtight container.

milk chocolate frosting:

adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

4 ounces milk chocolate chopped (or chips)
¼ cup + 2 tbs whipping cream
2 tsp golden syrup or corn syrup
¼ cup + 2 tbs butter, room temperature

Combine cream and golden syrup in a small saucepan, heat on medium until simmering. Pour over chocolate in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until all chocolate is melted. Set aside until the bowl no longer feels warm at all.

Using the whisk attachment mix in butter on medium-high speed until very light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated well.

Generously slather the cake in chocolate frosting in big fluffy, pillowy swoops. Sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles all over.