Confetti Layer Cake and a BOOK GIVEAWAY!
March 11, 2014 at 6:06 pm | Posted in cakes & tortes, layer cakes, sweet things | 50 CommentsTags: baking, birthday, cake, dessert, giveaway
Sometimes I just want a piece of birthday cake…even if it’s no one’s birthday. Know how that is? I do feel I’m embarrassingly late to the imaginary party with this confetti cake. I don’t even know if I’ve ever had the Pillsbury version. And it seems everyone’s made a homemade one but me (till now). What I thought was some magical secret to the colored bursts of confetti is really just jimmies stirred into cake batter. A cute book called Sprinkles!, which helps turn all things sparkly or rainbow-colored, showed me that. My own sprinkles collection borders on the absurd. Apparently I really needed this book– I’m filing it in the “self-help” section of my bookshelf.
Back to the cake! The base here is a delicate white cake flavored with almond extract, although it would be also great flavored with lemon, so I included that as an option. The sprinkles folded into the batter explode in the in oven (not in a dangerous way, I promise!) into little pops of color scattered throughout each slice. I think any frosting you like with white cake would work well here, so use your favorite. I made an American-style powdered sugar buttercream with a blob of cream cheese added in to temper the sweetness just a bit. The sides of the cake are exposed to show off the fun inside, and don’t forget the extra sprinkles on top!
The kind folks at Quirk Books sent me a copy of Sprinkles!, and now I want to jazz up your baking by sending a copy to one of you. Just leave me a comment (one per person, please) on this post before 4:00 pm EST on Tuesday, March 18 and I’ll randomly choose a winner from the list. Be sure your e-mail address is correct so I can contact you if you’re chosen.
***Giveaway Winner Update: I used random.org to generate a random comment number to find the winner. It selected comment 24, so congratulations to Barb T. I’ll be in touch and sending your book soon!***
Confetti Layer Cake– makes a 9-inch triple layer cake
adapted from Sprinkles! by Jackie Alpers
Steph’s Note: Obviously I didn’t bake my cake in 9-inch rounds. I scaled it back to a third and baked it as a quarter-sheet (adjusting baking time accordingly), which I then cut into three strips and frosted.
1 1/2 cups milk
9 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1/3 cup applesauce or Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract or lemon extract
4 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted, plus extra for flouring pans
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup rainbow jimmies, plus extra for decoration4 cups (approximately) your favorite buttercream or cream cheese frosting
-Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 9-inch round cake pans with parchment circles, grease, then dust with flour.
-In a medium bowl, stir milk, egg whites, applesauce or yogurt and extracts. Into another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
-Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add flour and milk mixtures alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Fold in the 1/2 cup sprinkles.
-Divide batter among pans. Bake until a tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
-Cool cakes in pans set on wire racks for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of each pan, then invert cakes onto a cutting board. With a serrated knife, carefully cut off the tops and “crusts,” exposing the confetti sprinkles (this is optional).
-Place first layer on a plate. Spread 3/4 cup frosting evenly over top. Repeat with second and third layers, leaving the sides exposed. Decorate the perimeter of the top with the remaining jimmies. Serve, or refrigerate up to 3 days.
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a whisk and a spoon 
This cake looks fantastic!
Comment by toozesty— March 11, 2014 #
Any cake is better with Sprinkles! Pretty.
Comment by Teresa Blackburn— March 11, 2014 #
sooo pretty! great photo
Comment by Erica (@Erica's Recipes)— March 11, 2014 #
confetti cake has always been my favorite, but I’ve actually never tried a homemade version either. I might just have to find an excuse now….
Comment by angieandchris— March 11, 2014 #
Love funfetti cakes! My ambition is to make the momofuku cake one day, but would love to start with a classic one like this! 😀
Comment by saucygander— March 11, 2014 #
OMG looks delicious! Confetti is my son’s favorite cake..I would love to surprise him and make one..thanx for sharing the recipe
Comment by Patrycja Chudziak— March 11, 2014 #
This looks really nice, I like adding sprinkles but I always think that it looks nicer when its not overdone. Yours is perfect!
Comment by Sweet and Savoury Pursuits— March 11, 2014 #
Funfetti has always been my favorite cake, and when it’s homemade, it’s even better. I’ve tried mixing in the lemon into the batter, and it’s delicious. I definitely recommend it! I’ve never done a layer cake, so I think this will be my next baking adventure 🙂
Comment by Megan.S— March 11, 2014 #
That cake looks gorgeous! I have also fallen in love with sprinkles as an adult (I never liked them as a child).
Comment by Emily B.— March 11, 2014 #
I’m always looking for a good new white cake recipe. I plan to try this one next. Looks gorgeous!
Comment by Hindy Bradley— March 11, 2014 #
Sprinkles are the best addition to any dessert-especially cakes and cookie bars and on ice cream! Can’t wait to try this recipe!!
Comment by Maya— March 11, 2014 #
Pretty cake
Comment by nudell5656— March 11, 2014 #
Count me in, please. I love me some sprinkles!
Comment by sprite— March 12, 2014 #
Looks great! I love confetti cakes but dislike the fact that they are almost always box mix cake. This is perfect!
Comment by HelloHomebody— March 12, 2014 #
The cake looks good! Enter me, please!
Comment by Doris— March 12, 2014 #
I can never have to many recipe books! lol
Comment by Mariam— March 12, 2014 #
I will have to try that recipe for my son’s bday!
Comment by Wade— March 12, 2014 #
Ooo I love it! And am struggling to decide on my own birthday cake this week – maybe this is the one 😀
Comment by Jo Blogs— March 12, 2014 #
Such a fun cake. And I’d love to win that book!
Comment by Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried— March 12, 2014 #
that cake looks like delicious…………i so love sweets.,.,.!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by ferrerasellendave— March 12, 2014 #
Yum this looks so delicious! Who doesn’t love sprinkles!
Comment by All You Do Is Eat— March 12, 2014 #
This is a beautiful cake! I’m like you, sometimes I just want birthday cake… When there are no birthdays in sight!! This is a perfect solution… And I would probably sing Happy Birthday in my head while I ate it! 🙂
Comment by Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs— March 12, 2014 #
That looks soo pretty, I’ve never made a cake like that before. Have a birthday cake to make with my daughter this weekend, she would love this. Thanks!
Comment by jacquigourlay— March 12, 2014 #
Like you , I too , like birthday cake once in awhile.Now that I have seen your post I might break down and actually bake one instead of buying it at the local grocery store bakery! Thank You for the recipe
Comment by Barb T— March 12, 2014 #
I love anything with sprinkles in it!! This looks amazing!!!!
Comment by liztiptopshape— March 12, 2014 #
Beautiful cake. Thanks for the chance!
Comment by andpins— March 12, 2014 #
I want to make this cake. Looks lovely.
Comment by itzia— March 12, 2014 #
My favorite kind of cake is sprinkles! They make everything somehow better!
Comment by parkerozgood— March 12, 2014 #
This looks delicious! I’ll have to make it for my birthday this Friday!!
Comment by jendean08— March 12, 2014 #
Consider yourself early to the party – I’ve never heard of a Confetti Cake – maybe more of a US thing? Either way this looks both adorable & delicous, never considered adding colour through sprinkles rather than food dye 🙂
Comment by rachaeldot— March 12, 2014 #
Thanks for posting this. I keep thinking I need to make a sprinkles cake so will do so for son’s birthday.
Comment by Dreena Tischler— March 12, 2014 #
What an adorable cake. I did not understand until recently the importance of quality sprinkles (as I see yours are from the picture). It took my foolishly buying some at an extremely cheap store that I will not mention and then tasting their horrid waxy ickness to send me running to the internet where many fantastic (and some very spendy) heavenly sprinkles await. Worth every penny I say!
Comment by AnnaZed— March 13, 2014 #
That cake is so adorable. I love the almond extract in it!! Thanks 🙂 What is the time adjustment for the smaller cake? I would love to bring that somewhere (anywhere)!
Comment by stephanie— March 13, 2014 #
Thanks! Start checking it at 15 mins if you’re baking a third of a recipe as a quarter sheet.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— March 18, 2014 #
Weekends away from my 50 hour a week job always include some cooking and baking–my relaxation strategy. This recipe and pics have my mouth watering. Thanks so much for sharing. Beautifully done!
Comment by parishkathy— March 13, 2014 #
This cake has my name written ALL OVER IT!
Comment by loshiro— March 14, 2014 #
yummm … this is my favorite cake …
Comment by diane oconnor— March 14, 2014 #
That looks delicious….I’d love to get some more cake inspiration from the book!
Comment by Patricia Wojnar Crowley— March 15, 2014 #
That cake is truly perfect! I have to make this for my birthday!
Comment by Isla— March 15, 2014 #
9 egg whites, wow, this sounds fabulous, am printing recipe out and hope to make this with my granddaughter when I visit up north (Traverse City Michigan) end of the month! Thanks for the post. Maggie
Comment by maggie fisher— March 17, 2014 #
This looks delicious! Can you make this gluten free or lower in sugar by altering the ingredients a bit? http://edibleepiphanies.com
Comment by Amy— March 17, 2014 #
Sorry Amy, but I don’t have much experience baking gluten free, so I can’t answer that one. You can always reduce sugar by a bit, say 1/4 cup.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— March 18, 2014 #
No worries, thanks for the response regardless! I hope you find some healthy recipes on my site and I look forward to reading more of yours! http://edibleepiphanies.com/
Comment by Amy— March 18, 2014 #
Everyone’s favorite cake seems to be funfetti, which drives me crazy because they always want THE boxed mixed not my own creation. Why would you choose a box over home made!?! The world may never know.
Looking at your recipe here, 9 egg whites – wow that’s a lot. What do you do with the rest of those 9 eggs?
Comment by The Not So Culinary Graduate— March 18, 2014 #
Yeah, that’s a lot of whites. Actually, I only did a third of a recipe here so I only needed three whites, but usually I have a large stash of egg whites in my freezer anyway because I make ice cream often (it only uses the yolks). I have seen other recipes for confetti cake that use a yellow cake (whole egg) base, so you can do a quick search for that if you’re interested.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— March 18, 2014 #
does look good, thought I commented previously though on amount of eggs whites, seems like a lot but am sure it contributes to the goodness overall, guess you could make quite an omelet with leftover yolks or stir fry them with some brown rice and veggies maybe, anyhow do want to be included in the ‘race’ for the give away book please
maggie in michigan (just be sure you don’t already have my entry somewhere????)
Comment by maggie fisher— March 18, 2014 #
Yes, Maggie, I do have your other comment….you can see it’s a few comments up the list. Nine whites is a lot…I save them up from recipes that only use yolks and freeze them till I need them. This is a good way to use them up. If you don’t have nine whites, look around online for a recipe that uses a yellow cake (whole egg) as the basis. Or, you might be able to use store bought pasteurized whites here.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— March 18, 2014 #
thanks so much for your reply and ideas great ones too!
Comment by maggie fisher— March 24, 2014 #
Positively adorable! I love the cake! It is so pretty and partyish! Now I want a birthday so I have a good excuse to make it. Maybe I will just say it is an early Easter thing. Thanks for sharing!
Comment by kloesunny @ kloeskitchen.wordpress.com— April 8, 2014 #
I love the speckled appearance that the sprinkles give – a great cake for children’s birthday parties. I’ve just discovered your blog and this was the one recipe that struck me. A simple method with a great look.
Comment by theschoolcook626— May 30, 2014 #