Malted Vanilla Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper; butter paper. Flour pans; set aside.

2. In a 1-cup measuring cup stir together milk and vanilla bean paste; set aside. In a large mixing bowl stir together the cake flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and milk mixture; beat on low speed with an electric mixer until combined. Increase speed to medium; beat for 1 minute.

3. Add two of the egg whites; beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add the remaining three egg whites; beat for 30 seconds.

4. Divide batter between prepared pans; spread evenly. Bake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; remove parchment. Cool completely on wire racks.

5. Place one cake layer, top side up, on a serving plate. Spread with some of the frosting. Top with the remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides with additional frosting (you may have extra frosting; use it for piping or for spreading onto cupcakes or Easter cookies). Decorate as desired with cotton candy and Easter egg candies just before serving.

Malted Buttercream Frosting

1. In a very large mixing bowl beat the butter on medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in 6 cups of the powdered sugar and the malted milk powder. Increase speed to medium and add 4 tablespoons of the milk, the vanilla, and salt. Beat for 2 minutes or until smooth. Add enough of the remaining powdered sugar or milk to make a frosting that is spreadable.

Prepare frosting up to 5 days ahead. Transfer to a storage container; cover and chill up to 3 days. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour or until soft enough to spread. Assembled cake can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator up to 24 hours. Let stand at room temperature about 1 hour before serving.