Category: Birthday Cake

What You Need to Make This Recipe

Vanilla cake — I use a box cake mix for these cake balls for convenience. However, if you have some leftover cake lying around, you can use that as well because nothing beats homemade cake. If you prefer you can use chocolate cake, red velvet cake, or strawberry cake instead.

Frosting — you can use homemade vanilla frosting (great use for leftovers) or store-bought frosting. I prefer homemade for the flavor, but sometimes convenience wins! Of course feel free to use chocolate frosting or cream cheese frosting instead. 

Candy melts — once melted and dipped, candy melts will set up with the same look and texture as chocolate. It’s easier to use than chocolate, as you can skip tempering it. Careful not to scorch the melts, or they’ll harden too quickly to work with.

Sprinkles — Buy your favorite from a store or follow my recipe on easy homemade sprinkles.

How to Make Cake Pops

1. Crumble cooled cake into a large bowl.

2. Add frosting and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture resembles wet sand but is not smooth.

3. Use a cookie scoop to portion out the cake mixture.

4. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls.

5. Place the rolled balls on a lined plate. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or freeze for 30 minutes.

6. Melt candy or chocolate wafers according to the package instructions. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick in the melted chocolate and insert about halfway into a cake ball.

7. Dip the cake ball into the chocolate. Remove and gently tap on the side of the cup to let excess coating drip off.

8. Decorate with sprinkles if desired. Place upright and let stand until the coating is set.

This chiffon cake is a favorite for children’s birthday parties. Serve with fruit or decorate with frosting.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

264	Calories
10g	Fat
38g	Carbs
5g	Protein

Ingredients

1x2x4x

Original recipe (1X) yields 14 servings

• 2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 7 large eggs, separated, divided
• ¾ cup cold water
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Wash a 10-inch angel food tube pan in hot soapy water to ensure it is grease-free; dry well.
2. Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a sifter; sift into a bowl. Make a well; add egg yolks, water, oil, vanilla extract, and lemon extract to the well in the order listed. Do not beat.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
3. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a separate, large bowl until very stiff.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
4. Using the same beaters, beat egg yolk batter until smooth and light; pour slowly over egg whites. Gently fold mixtures together with a rubber spatula; do not stir. Pour batter into the angel food tube pan.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
5. Bake cake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes. Increase heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 more minutes.
6. Invert the pan onto a wire rack. Let cool completely before unmolding and frosting as desired.

If you’re looking for a super soft cake that screams fun and flavor, this funfetti cake is it! This from-scratch funfetti cake recipe is a celebration in every bite, boasting a fluffy vanilla white cake with the most tender crumb, packed with a carnival of colorful sprinkles. It’s not just a cake – it’s a party for your taste buds!

How to Make Funfetti Cake

Funfetti Cake Layers

First we’re going to make the funfetti cake layers.

Begin by preheating your oven to 180 °C (350°F) and grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans. I use my homemade cake release to grease my tins, and I line the bottoms with parchment paper. If you’re using a fan function (convection mode) to bake your cakes, reduce the baking temperature to 160C (320F).

In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.

Combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Vinegar is great for providing a tender crumb – check out this blog post for more information. Mix and set aside.

Next separate the yolks and whites from 6 large egg whites. This recipe only uses the egg whites. Don’t throw the egg yolks away 🙂 simply place them into an airtight container and pop them into the fridge to use for something else (like lemon curd or French buttercream). Set aside for now.

In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine), cream together for 3 minutes until light and creamy.

Add in egg whites in 4 batches on a low speed, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between each batch).

Add in vanilla extract or essence, and half of the milk/vinegar mixture and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.

Add in half of your premixed flour mixture to your wet mixture, and gently fold with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining milk/vinegar mixture, and fold until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix.

Finish off by folding in the sprinkles until just combined. Do not overmix.

Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the vanilla buttercream recipe below.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

This buttercream recipe is one of my favorite frosting recipes of all time! It’s so easy to make, not too sweet, and has the most gorgeous smooth texture.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (you can use a hand mixer too), add in the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and cream.

Using the paddle attachment, mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined (about a minute), and then mix on a medium-high speed for a full 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl down half way through. Once the frosting is light and fluffy, it’s ready to use. See note 6 if buttercream is curdling or very firm.

How to Decorate a Funfetti Cake

If your cakes have a dome on the top, begin by levelling the tops so that the layers are nice and flat.

Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the frosting on top. I like to use my offset spatula to do this.

Place the next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more frosting. If you have a cake scraper, you can use it to smooth out the sides. I like to do a little bit of piping on the top (I used a 1M piping tip for this cake), and piped little swirls on the top.

Finish by sprinkling some rainbow sprinkles onto each swirl, and then use the palm of your hands to gently press some of the sprinkles up against the side of the cake (see video for demonstration).

The base of this rainbow sheet cake is a super simple vanilla cake that is topped with cream cheese frosting. You can use any vanilla cake recipe here (or even box mix if you really wanted) – just make sure the batter isn’t too runny or the colors may bleed into each other. Feel free to adjust the color palette to your preference! Perfect for a kid’s birthday party, or a fun weekend activity to bake with kids.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

781	Calories
38g	Fat
103g	Carbs
8g	Protein

Ingredients

1x2x4x

Original recipe (1X) yields 10 servings

Cake:

• baking spray with flour
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups enriched bleached cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• gel food coloring: red or pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple

Frosting:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
• gel food coloring: red or pink, orange, and green

Directions

1. Gather all ingredients.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper; spray parchment with baking spray.
3. Prepare Cake: Beat butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add white sugar; beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
4. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and beat just until incorporated after each addition, about 1 minute total. Add vanilla and beat until combined, about 15 seconds. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl using a flexible spatula.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
5. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until combined.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
6. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating on low speed just until combined after each addition.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
7. Divide batter equally between 6 small bowls. Add one to two drops of food coloring to each bowl, tinting one bowl red or pink, one orange, one yellow, one green, one blue and one purple. Mix gently to combine and add additional coloring as needed to reach desired shades.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
8. Dollop the batter into the prepared pan, alternating colors, until the whole pan is filled. [If you have leftover batter, top up existing dollops of the same color – don’t make a second layer of different colors]. Gently bang the pan on the counter to ensure that the batter is evenly distributed and that all gaps are filled.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
9. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool on a wire rack until completely cool, at least 1 hour.
10. Prepare frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low, and gradually add powdered sugar, beating until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and salt, then increase mixer speed to medium, and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
11. Spoon out 1/4 cup of frosting into each of 3 small bowls. Add one to two drops of food coloring to each bowl, tinting one bowl red or pink, one orange, and one green. Mix well to combine and add additional coloring as needed to reach desired shades. Transfer each of the colored frostings to piping bags fitted with small round writing tips. Leave the remaining frosting in the mixing bowl white.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
12. Using a serrated knife, trim the edges of the cake.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
13. Frost the top of the cake with the white frosting, leaving the sides uncovered.Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
14. Use the colored frosting to pipe small rainbows across top of cake.

This moist and delicious birthday cake recipe is adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri.

What you’ll need to make vanilla birthday cake

Step-by-Step Instructions

To begin, combine the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Whisk well to combine.

Next, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the egg whites and milk. Be sure the eggs are at room temperature, otherwise your batter may curdle. To warm them up quickly, place them in a bowl of hot water before cracking them. When the butter and sugar are creamed, beat in the vanilla and almond extract, then add one-quarter of the flour mixture and beat on low speed.

Next, add one-third of the milk/egg mixture.

Continue alternating adding the flour and milk mixtures, scraping down the bowl as necessary. The batter will look like this.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the tops.

Bake the layers for 25 to 30 minutes, until they are set and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the layers in the pans for five minutes, then unmold onto racks to finish cooling.

While the cake cools, make the frosting. Begin by combining the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Beat until well combined.

Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.

Then beat in the vanilla and salt.

If the frosting is too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk or cream.

When the layers are cool, frost the cake.

You can spread the frosting smooth, or swirl it casually with a butter knife. Since it’s an all white cake, I like to scatter some festive nonpareils or confetti sprinkles on the edges for color.

Or for a change, try topping the cake with heaps of shredded sweetened coconut — it’s amazing.