It’s my birthday! I am officially knocking on 30’s door which meant I had to go all out this year when it came to the cake. What better way to start off 29 than with a fantastical, all out celebratory, sugar coma, hurt your teeth it’s so sweet, cake. You can do that on your birthday, especially when you are the one baking the cake. And what better way to do it than with sprinkles… lots and lots of sprinkles.
Not only is this cake completely covered in sprinkles (same can be said about every crack and corner of my kitchen), but inside this explosion of color and sugar is a funfetti cake. A classic among birthday parties, particularly the twelve and under age range, but who cares… this is my birthday!
I started with Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake. This cake is light and fluffy and is a nice base for adding your own twist, like sprinkles. Be sure to use cake flour, as called for in the recipe. Cake four is a lot finer than regular all-purpose flour which makes for a cake with a more delicate texture. It also easily absorbs fats, such as butter, and can be found in the same aisle as all the other flour.
I frosted this cake with my favorite butter cream frosting and then stuck it in the refrigerator for a bit. This made adding the sprinkles quite a bit easier. Another thing that helped was frosting the sides first, adhering the sprinkles, then frosting the top, putting it back in the fridge, and topping the rest of the cake with sprinkles. Whatever way you do it, you’ll have fun!
So here’s to starting 29 in a sugar coma. I may not be able to do this many more years, so I’m going to enjoy it while I can.
- 2¼ cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1¼ cups buttermilk
- 4 egg whites
- 1½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup rainbow sprinkles
- Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In another bowl whisk together buttermilk and egg whites.
- Put the sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a mixer and rub together with your fingers.
- Add one stick of butter to the sugar mixture and beat together until creamy, about three minutes.
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the bowl and beat slowly.
- Add ½ of the buttermilk mixture and continue to beat. Repeat until all of the ingredients are added.
- Add the sprinkles and fold until combined.
- Pour batter into 8 or 9-in cake pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray and covered with flour. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted in the middle and comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove cake from pans and cool entirely on wire racks.
- Cover cake with icing and refrigerate until frosting is slightly stiff. This makes it easier to adhere the sprinkles to the cake.
- Cover cake with sprinkles.
