I do love a great birthday cake! And although I often make my super moist chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, it’s great to have a light vanilla cake in your recipe arsenal.
Jump to RecipeThis easy vanilla birthday cake recipe from Karen Ruterford at the Cakedecorist comes with a super light and fluffy marshmallow frosting.
You could even toast the top with a small torch and get that elegant toasted meringue look. So light and fluffy, sweet, and glossy, the frosting is also the perfect topping for any s’mores-related dessert.
You’ll also find some good visual instructions for the frosting in my swiss meringue buttercream frosting post since it follows the same technique (without the butter).
And yes, the recipe is in grams, which I actually love because I can just take out my kitchen scale and easily just pour ingredients into the bowl to the required weight. (Make sure to set it back to “0” after each ingredient though).
Also don’t forget to try this other recipe with real marshmallows on the Cakedecorist website.
Vanilla Cake with Marsmallow Frosting
Ingredients
Ingredients for Vanilla Cake
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 180 g cake flour
- 375 g white sugar
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ salt
- 114 g vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 58 ml buttermilk
- 228 g sour cream
- 2½ tsp vanilla extract
- 170 g butter
Ingredients for Marshmallow Frosting
- 5 egg whites
- 200 g of sugar
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
Step by Step Instructions – Vanilla Cake
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Preheat oven to 325 °F
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In a bowl, combine that all-purpose flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
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In another bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla extract.
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With the mixer on low speed, add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients piece by piece. When all the butter has combined, the mixture should look sandy. Increase the speed to medium-low and slowly add in the wet ingredients, pausing halfway through to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once the mixture is almost homogenous, raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 30 seconds.
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Separate the batter between the prepared pans and bake about 50-60 minutes or until the center springs back when touched.
Step by Step Instructions- Marshmallow Frosting
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In a saucepan, put an inch of water and bring to a simmer.
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Place egg whites, sugar, and salt in a heatproof bowl and place them on top of the saucepan with simmering water.
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Whisk egg whites slowly but continuously until they are warm to touch and the sugar has dissolved about 4 minutes then by using a candy thermometer to check if it is 140 °F. You can also test this by dipping a finger onto the mixture and rubbing it between your fingers to know if it should no longer have any grains of sugar in it.
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Using a hand mixer, at high speed, beat the mixture until thick, glossy, and the outside of the bowl start to cool down. Or you can use a stand mixer.
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Use a spatula to spread the frosting and piping tips to decorate your cake.
Recipe Notes
Tips and Tricks:
It’s best to use a candy thermometer to measure the temp. Make sure not to use any special tip because simple piping works best.
Marshmallow icing should be used immediately and served the same day. Do not refrigerate it in bulk, or it will lose its lightness and become weepy. If you want to tint this frosting, you can add a drop or two of gel paste color.
Yield: 7- or 8-inch round cake or 12 cupcakes
Karen Rutherford is founder and editor in chief at Cakedecorist. You will often find her in the kitchen creating edible works of art or trying out some new recipes. As a pâtissière and baking enthusiast, Karen has decided to share her abundant knowledge with the internet audience and provide only the best tips and recipes for baking and decorating your favorite sweets.
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