Like many cake makers do, I made my own birthday cake this year! I actually do this as a tradition every year but normally fail to document it in a blog post. This year, all I wanted was sprinkle everything with a splash of chocolate, so I made a double funfetti cake with a little chocolate ganache thrown in the mix. By double funfetti I mean funfetti cake + funfetti buttercream and there is nothing more celebratory than that combo!

This cake starts with my favorite funfetti cake recipe, which I revised for my book to yield a 3-layer 6-inch cake (this blog version yields a larger cake). The ingredients in the book version are tweaked ever so slightly to include a little almond extract and egg whites to make the cake even more light and fluffy. I’ve included the recipe below, and it’s just one of many amazing layer cake recipes you’ll find in my book, which is now available worldwide wherever books are sold! 

I made a double batch of my funfetti buttercream recipe for this cake, but reserved a few Cups of the plain vanilla buttercream before adding the sprinkles just so I could pipe some pretty pink swirls on top of the cake as a finishing touch. The funfetti buttercream is so easy to work with but it’s not the best for piping since the sprinkles tend to get stuck in piping tips. These Ultimate Unicorn Rainbow Jimmies by Sprinkle Pop are my favorite to use in the buttercream recipe and the cake recipe. They don’t bleed their color easily and I just love the cool-toned rainbow colors in the mix. 

I added a little bit of chocolate ganache as filling between the cake layers and as a drip on top. My favorite way to make the ganache recipe work for both consistencies (thick for the filling and thin for the drip) is to make it a day (or at least a few hours) ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will solidify as it cools, then you can microwave it in 5-10 second intervals to bring it back to a room temperature, peanut buttery consistency for the filling. When you’re finished filling the cake, you can microwave the leftover ganache a little more to make it slightly above room temperature, aka the perfect drip consistency. 

Those cute little sprinkle truffles on top came from a last minute idea I had about how to recycle the cake scraps that were leftover from leveling the cake layers. I crumbled the cake tops in a bowl and mixed them together with funfetti frosting until the mixture stuck together enough to form balls when rolled between my hands. This is how you make cake pops, but instead of dipping the balls in melted chocolate, I rolled them in a bowl of sprinkles and then refrigerated the sprinkle cake truffles until I was ready to top the cake with them. They tasted AMAZING and looked so cute as cake toppers that I had to make them their own separate blog post.  

I’m so excited to share this double funfetti birthday cake with friends and celebrate another trip around the sun. It’ll probably be my last hoorah before baby boy gets here in just a few weeks (give or take). We’re gonna end up being birthday buds and I can’t wait to make us both birthday cakes in the years to come! 

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Double Funfetti Birthday Cake

The most celebratory cake of all! A delicious sprinkle-studded funfetti cake with funfetti buttercream that's always perfect for anyone's birthday or celebration.

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Servings 15 slices

Ingredients

Funfetti Cake (from my book, Anyone Can Cake)

• 2 1/2 Cups (290g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
• 2 tsp (10g) baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups (300g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs + 2 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 Cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
• 1 Cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup (100g) rainbow sprinkles**, coated in 2 tsp cake flour

Funfetti Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
• pinch of salt, or to taste
• 1/3 Cup (67g) rainbow sprinkles**

Optional Fillings & Toppings

• 1 batch chocolate ganache recipe link below
• 6 sprinkle cake truffles recipe link below

Instructions

Make the Funfetti Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/177ºC. Prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a baking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a wax or parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
• Add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. 
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter on high for 2 minutes. Add in the sugar and continue to beat on medium-high until light and fluffy (another 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs and egg whites one at a time. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and sour cream. Mix for one minute on high speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more. 
• Turn the mixer off and add in the dry ingredients all at once. Mix on low speed until just combined, then slowly pour in the milk while continuing to mix on low until incorporated, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps. The batter will be slightly thick.
• Gently fold the flour-coated rainbow sprinkles into the cake batter by hand, then divide evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 32-36 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they’re entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.

Make the Funfetti Buttercream

• With a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on high until creamy and light (almost white) in color, about 7 minutes.
• Turn the mixer to low speed and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition and making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
• Add the vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated and smooth. Reserve 1 1/2 Cups of frosting if you plan on doing any piping on top of the cake at this point. Fold in the rainbow sprinkles to the rest of the buttercream with a rubber spatula.

Make the Chocolate Ganache (Optional)

• If you're planning on filling and dripping the cake with chocolate ganache (like the one pictured), make one batch of this chocolate ganache. You can half the recipe if you're only wanting to use it for the drip.

Assembly

• Once the funfetti cakes are completely cooled, level them to your desired height. If you're planning on making the sprinkle cake truffles, reserve some of the cake scraps from the leveling process in a small bowl and make them according to this recipe.
• Add a swipe of funfetti buttercream onto a cardboard cake circle and place the first cake layer on top. Fill and stack the cake with funfetti buttercream. If you want to add chocolate ganache between the layers like the cake pictured, make sure the ganache is room temperature or slightly below (peanut butter-ish consistency) and use the Soft Fillings method of filling and stacking from this blog post. Crumb coat the cake with funfetti buttercream, then place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the buttercream set firm.
• To create the design pictured, frost a smooth buttercream finish onto the cake with funfetti buttercream and place it back into the refrigerator for an additional 20 minutes to chill the buttercream while you heat the chocolate ganache to perfect drip consistency. Drip the cake with the chocolate ganache and place it back into the refrigerator for 5 minutes to let it set.
• If piping the top of the cake, color the reserved buttercream any color you'd like. I used one small drop of AmeriColor Deep Pink. Fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M and pipe 6 swirls on top of the cake, spaced about 1 inch apart. Fill in each gap with a sprinkle cake truffle.

Notes

*DIY Cake Flour Recipe: To make your own cake flour, spoon and level one cup of all-purpose flour and remove 2 Tbsp. Add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch. Repeat per the amount of cake flour you need, then sift the flour and cornstarch mixture 4 times (don’t skip that step!). After sifting, spoon and level to re-measure the amount of cake flour you need. 

**Rainbow Sprinkles: the best kind of sprinkles to use in this cake and buttercream are the rod-shaped kind that don’t bleed color. Look for “carnauba wax” and “confectioner’s glaze” in the ingredients list. These are coating agents that will keep the sprinkles from bleeding color into your batter and frosting. My favorite rainbow sprinkles to use are Sprinkle Pop’s Ultimate Unicorn Rainbow Jimmies. 

Make Ahead Tips:

1. The funfetti cakes can be baked, cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, and left out at room temperature up to two days ahead of decorating. Unfrosted cake layers can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to two months before thawing and frosting. 
2. For best results, reserve adding the sprinkles to the funfetti buttercream until right before you’re ready to decorate with it. The buttercream (sans sprinkles) can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency, then fold in the sprinkles.

 

The post Double Funfetti Birthday Cake appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

When you think of the most classic birthday cake ever, what comes to mind? For me, it’s always been yellow cake with chocolate frosting. All throughout my childhood, my momma used to mix up a box yellow cake, bake it in a casserole dish, smear canned chocolate frosting on top, and write Happy Birthday on it with those little tubes of icing colors you can still find at the grocery store to this day. I loved those birthday cakes. And I’m really surprised that after all my years of caking, it’s taken me this long to nail down the perfect yellow cake recipe. Well, wait no more! 

There are a couple reasons why I decided to focus my energy on developing this fluffy yellow cake this past week. The first was I got a DM on Instagram requesting it, which made me realize I’ve never actually even tasted a from-scratch yellow cake. So I went on a wild Google spree figuring out what makes it different than a vanilla cake, what makes it yellow, etc (all things I will get to in a minute). The second was I know that most of the world is stranded at home right now due to this crazy pandemic, still celebrating birthdays in quarantine. I wanted to provide an easy, amazingly tasty birthday cake to help you guys celebrate! 

So back to the recipe. This yellow cake is the definition of light and fluffy – It is SO incredibly soft! I kept poking it over and over in disbelief because I swear it’s as close to box mix (but from scratch) as you’re gonna get. I tried something new with this one and basically took my favorite vanilla cake recipe, added an extra egg yolk, and substituted some of the butter with vegetable oil. The results were perfect: the softest texture ever, ultra moist, rich vanilla flavor, and pairs perfectly with my favorite chocolate buttercream recipe. In other words, birthday cake heaven!

So what makes it a yellow cake, exactly? In all my Googling I learned that yellow cakes are basically vanilla cakes made with whole eggs, whereas white cakes are vanilla cakes made with egg whites. The yolk is where the yellow color comes from, but honestly, if you want it as yellow as a box cake mix you’ll have to add a drop or two of yellow food coloring (which is definitely in the ingredients section on a box yellow cake). The all-natural version just isn’t as saturated, but I can promise you it tastes just as classic. 

I filled and frosted this fluffy yellow cake with my decadent chocolate buttercream recipe and ran a Wilton Icing Comb over it to get the lined finish. Then, I used Wilton Tip 1M to pipe a rope border around the top edge and added some Sprinkle Pop Unicorn Rainbow Jimmies to give it a pop of color. You can decorate it any way you want, so feel free to go simple, over-the-top, or anywhere in between. 

A great thing about this recipe is that it’s extremely versatile. You bake it in a casserole dish if you don’t have round cake pans, bake cupcakes with it, or half the recipe to make a mini version. If you don’t have cake flour on hand, you can make a DIY version using all-purpose flour with this homemade cake flour recipe.  

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Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

A soft and fluffy from-scratch yellow cake that's packed with vanilla flavor and ultra-nostalgic. Filled and frosted with decadent chocolate buttercream for the most classic birthday cake ever.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Yellow Cake

• 2 1/2 Cups (265g) cake flour, sifted before measuring*
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 Cup (60ml) vegetable oil
• 1 2/3 Cup (340g) white granulated sugar
• 3 whole eggs + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• 1/3 Cup (75g) sour cream, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 Cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature

Chocolate Buttercream

• 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
• 1 Cup (84g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 Cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
• 4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Make the Yellow Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch cake pans or two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and a wax paper circle fitted to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans. 
• Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. 
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter for on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add vegetable oil and sugar, then continue to mix on med-high for another two minutes. Add the whole eggs and egg yolk one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix for one minute on high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more. 
• With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the milk slowly and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick, but pourable.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 30-35 minutes. They're done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they're entirely room temperature before applying any frosting. 

Make the Chocolate Buttercream

• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip butter on medium speed until creamy and light in color, about four minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle and turn the mixer to low, then add powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, salt, and vanilla extract. Increase the speed to medium and beat for two full minutes.

Assembly

• Once the cakes have cooled, torte them before filling and frosting with chocolate buttercream. To create the design pictured, use an icing scraper to smooth the sides and make them straight, then gently drag a cake comb through the buttercream to create lined texture. Use Wilton Tip 1M to create a rope border around the top edge by piping overlapping rosettes. Add rainbow sprinkles to finish the look!

Notes

*DIY Cake Flour Recipe: To make your own cake flour, spoon and level one cup of all-purpose flour and remove 2 Tbsp. Add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch. Repeat per the amount of cake flour you need, then sift the flour and cornstarch mixture 4 times (don’t skip that step!). After sifting, spoon and level to re-measure the amount of cake flour you need. 

Make Ahead Tips:

1. The yellow cake layers can be baked, cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, and left out at room temperature up to two days ahead of decorating. Unfrosted cake layers can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to two months before thawing and frosting. 
2. The chocolate buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and rewhip with your stand mixer to bring back to frosting consistency. 

To Make as a Sheet Cake: fill a sheet pan or casserole dish with the yellow cake batter no more than 1/2 full and bake at 350ºF for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

To Make as Cupcakes: fill cupcake tins no more than 2/3 full and bake at 350ºF for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Did you make this cake recipe? I wanna know what you think! Let me know in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me. I love to see what you’re caking! Stay safe and healthy out there, lovelies.

The post The Fluffiest Yellow Cake Recipe + Chocolate Frosting appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.