Nothing says HAPPY BIRTHDAY like funfetti cake, am I right?! Today is not only MY birthday, it’s also my husbands’! We share the same birthday and it’s pretty fun. This birthday is an interesting one, since we are currently quarantined and can’t see anyone, but at least we are together and sharing a quarantine birthday. Special, and weird, of course.

Sprinkles inside a cake is basically the epitome of a birthday cake. Sprinkles just make things better. Every year for our birthday, I even make funfetti pancakes for breakfast. But ONLY on our birthday. We aren’t allowed to have them any other time of the year. This year, Paul’s making us funfetti waffles, and I made this funfetti cake!

I’m currently studying with every ounce of brainpower for a my qualifying exam. It’s a big milestone of my PhD program, a sort of rite of passage that makes you a “PhD candidate” after you pass. It’s a grueling 3 hour long oral exam where you present your thesis to your committee, and they grill you on all aspects of your proposed experiments and your field of research. It’s a big scary deal, and that’s where my head is at during this birthday. I actually made this cake weeks ago because I knew I would not be baking so much this close to my exam. I photographed it, we shared a slice, and then into the freezer it went. Last night I defrosted it and we will be eating it today!

I’m sure we can consider this a birthday to remember.

I’ve been making this cake recipe for years. I’ve made it for friends’ weddings, baby showers, and many birthdays. The cake layers bake up nice and even, perfect for stacking. The cake doesn’t brown too much so it looks great as a naked cake. It’s DELICOUS, moist, just sweet enough, and it freezes really well too. I love to pair it with Swiss meringue buttercream, which I also provide the recipe for in this post! If you make this cake, don’t forget to tag @sprinkledwithjules on instagram and use the hashtag #sprinkledwithjules. Happy baking!

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Funfetti Cake

by Julia Alvarez May-12-2020

Delicate, tender, moist white cake with sprinkles that bakes up in perfect even layers for stacking.

Ingredients for cake

1 1/2 cup flour
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg whites
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup sprinkles (these are "jimmies")

Ingredients for Swiss Merinige Buttercream

3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. For the cake, begin by beating butter and sugar with a mixer until pale, light and fluffy. (About 5 minutes). 2. Add in the egg whites, one at a time, mixing until combined, and scraping down the sides of the bowl to thoroughly mix. After egg whites, mix in the vanilla extract. 3. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, corn starch, baking powder, and salt). 4. Alternatively add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the butter mixture, beginning and endinig with the flour. (I add the flour mixture in 3 parts, and the buttermilk in 2 parts). 5. After the batter is thoroughly mixed, gently fold in the sprinkles. 6. Prepare 3 6-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and parchment paper rounds in the bottom of the pans. Divid the cake batter evenly among the 3 pans, and genly spread and level the badder with a rubber or offset spatula. 7. Bake the cakes at 350°F until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with crumbs on it (no more wet batter), about 25 minutets. (Start checking at 20 minutes, depending on your oven it will take bettween 20-30 mintues). 8. Remove cakes from the oven and let cool a few minutes in the pans before turning them out onto a cooling rack. Let the cakes cool completely before trying to frost or stack them. (After they cool you can wrap them individually in plastic wrap and foil and they will store really well in the fridge or freezer). 9. Make the swiss mering buttercream: in a bowl set atop a small pot with 1 inch of simmering water in the pot, combine the egg whites and sugar. Whisk continuously while the egg mixture heats up. You're looking for the sugar to dissolve, and the egg mixture to heat up gently. To test if its ready, get a bit on your finger and rub your fingers together to feel if there are sugar granules still in the mixture. When you dont' feel any more granules and the mixtuer is hot to the touch it is done. Remove the bowl off of the simmering pot and add the egg/sugar mixture to the bowl of a mixer. 10. Whisk the meringue mixture. You're looking for the meringue to become white and shiny, and cooled off. This will take about 15 mintues of whisking. Meanwhile, remove the butter from the fridge and chop into 1 inch cubes. 11. The meringue must be room temperature before adding the chilled butter. Feel the outside of the bowl to ensure it doesn't feel warm anymore. Once it feels room temperature, you can switch from a whick to a paddle attachment on the mixer, and slowly mix in the butter, one chunk at a time. If the meringue is too hot, the butter will melt. 12. After the butter has all been incorporated, beat the buttercream until it becomes shiny and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and salt. Now it's ready to frost the cake!

Details

Prep time: 35 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes Yield: 3 6-inch cakes, and 2 cups of frosting