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Turn a boxed cake mix into a special Strawberry Malted Milkshake Cake. Homemade strawberry buttercream frosts the inside and out of this vanilla malted milk cake. Decorate quickly and easily with Strawberry Whoppers!
Hi there! We’re Julie and Maddie, a mother & daughter team from Tastes of Lizzy T and we’re so happy to be here with you today. If you’ve been to our little side of the world wide web before, you’ll know that we love cake. We make it our mission to create fun, beautiful, delicious cakes that are easy to decorate, but still wow your guests.
When Carrian asked us to share one of our creations with you, our wheels started turning. It is this time of year that I always start craving fruit desserts and specifically, strawberries. Unfortunately we’re in Ohio so we still have a few months before we get to start tasting our juicy, fresh garden strawberries. Thankfully, strawberries are growing well in other areas of the United States and we can get nice berries for a good price, which definitely holds me over until Ohio strawberry-picking season.
This Strawberry Malted Milkshake Cake has been in my dreams for awhile now and I knew it was the cake to share with you today! You’ll love this recipe because it starts with a boxed cake mix. I used Betty Crocker’s vanilla cake mix, but you can use traditional white, French vanilla, or even a strawberry cake if you’d like. To give this cake mix a malted milk “boost”, I added 3/4 cup malted milk power. You can buy this powder in the baking aisle of your grocery store.
The homemade strawberry buttercream is the star of this cake. It will literally melt in your mouth. Strawberry jam is what gives this frosting it’s burst of strawberry flavor. I also added in a touch of malted milk powder in the frosting. To give the frosting a pretty pink color, I slipped in a few drops of red food coloring. You can leave this out if you’d like!
Now if you’re just wanting an amazing cake to devour yourself, you can stop there. If you’re wanting the “Wow Factor”, you can decorate the outside with Whoppers Strawberry Milkshake candies. Using store-bought candies and cookies are so fun to decorate with, and they are very forgiving if you’re worried about your frosting looking just right. Once the candies get on top of the cake, your frosting will look A+ and any mistakes will be hidden!
We’d love to meet you and have you follow along with us at Tastes of Lizzy T. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Stop over and say Hi!
Can Cake Be Frozen?
Cakes freeze very well.
Cool completely and then wrap well in plastic or foil.
Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Are Malted Milk Candies Gluten Free?
Malt powder is made from barley malt, and some wheat.
Both barley and wheat contain gluten, so malted milk candy is not gluten free.
Can You Use Margarine Instead of Butter in Cake?
Melted margarine could work in recipes that call for melted butter, but in recipes that call for softened butter, swapping in margarine may change the texture.
Cakes will be less tender, and cookies will generally spread out more and be less crisp.
Strawberry Malted Milkshake Cake
Strawberry Malted Milkshake Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 Box Vanilla Cake Mix, 15.25 ounces Betty Crocker
- ¾ Cup Malted Milk Powder
- 1 Cup Milk
- ½ Cup Canola Oil
- 3 Eggs
Buttercream:
- 4 Sticks Salted Butter, 1 pound, softened
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- ¾ Cup Strawberry Jam
- 8 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Malted Milk Powder
- 3-4 Tablespoons Milk, if needed
- Few Drops of Red Food Coloring, if desired
- 5 Boxes Whoppers, 4 ounces each Whoppers Strawberry Milkshake candies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the dry cake mix and the malted milk powder.1 Box Vanilla Cake Mix, ¾ Cup Malted Milk Powder
- Add the milk, oil and eggs.1 Cup Milk, ½ Cup Canola Oil, 3 Eggs
- Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Grease and flour two 9” round cake pans.
- Divide the cake batter between the two prepared cake pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 24-26 minutes. Test cakes to be sure they are done. The center of the cake should bounce back when you touch it.
- Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then loosen the edges of the cakes with a knife.
- Invert the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cakes are completely cool, prepare the strawberry buttercream.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the butter for 2-3 minutes, until it is nearly white in appearance.4 Sticks Salted Butter
- Add the vanilla, strawberry jam and malted milk.2 teaspoons Vanilla, ¾ Cup Strawberry Jam, 3 Tablespoons Malted Milk Powder
- Mix well.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar, a cup at a time.8 Cups Powdered Sugar
- If the buttercream is too stiff, add milk, a tablespoon at a time and beat the frosting between each addition.3-4 Tablespoons Milk
- Add enough milk so that the frosting can easily be spread on the cake.
- If you’d like, you can add a few drops of red food coloring to give a pretty pink color to the frosting.Few Drops of Red Food Coloring
- Place one cake on a cake plate.
- Spread a thick layer of frosting on top of the first cake.
- Then place the second cake on top.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake, smoothing the frosting as you go and making sure that the cake is even and level.
- Decorate the top of the cake with strawberry Whoppers, as desired. I placed a border of Whoppers along the bottom edge of the cake. For the top of the cake, I placed 3 clean and dry strawberries in the center, then covered the top with more of the strawberry Whoppers.5 Boxes Whoppers
- Refrigerate the cake until serving.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Do you use the ingredients on the back of the cake box plus what you have listed or in replace of? Thanks. Can’t wait to try.
Nevermind. Got it
Hi Sara! No, just the ingredients listed on this recipe card. So you will only use the cake mix powder and then use the ingredients listed here. Enjoy!
Looks tasty! I have a question: When you cut the slice and lay it on its side like in the picture, did you have any trouble with the malt balls falling off? (Just trying to be prepared here; my daughter doesn’t “do” surprises very well!)
Hi Mary! Sorry for the late reply…The malt balls on the larger part of the wedge stayed on OK. At the thinner, pointier part, a few fall off since there was less to hold on to. Enjoy!
Hi, I am new to this newsletter so just in case I have an issue getting back to you, thanks in advance to anyone who answers. I am sorry to say that I have never even heard of, let alone tasted a strawberry malt ball. Where can I find them??? My darling little girl was standing next to me as I pulled this cake up to view, and her first response was ” I want that cake for my birthday”. She will be 4 in June. What a fun cake. I am going to try the malt ball candy website I am familiar with to find these lovely treats.
~D
Hi there, Dee! I found these Whoppers at Walmart, but if you can’t find them in the store, they are sold on Amazon, too!
This cake is so pretty! And I LOVE strawberry whoppers, they’re so addicting, unfortunately for my waistline. But really, this cake has such a pretty color, and yummy looking frosting!
What a fun cake! I once made a peanut butter malted cake with the Reese’s whoppers.