Horray! New digs calls for celebratory cake!
Remember that thing I said about trying to embrace imperfections in the kitchen? Yeah. That did not happen here. But my sprinkle-obsessive behavior paid off big time. Third time’s a charm!!
What I learned: artificial sprinkles are best, the more natural kind bleed into the batter (hence the weird color of the first two tries).
A crumb coat is key to keeping the crumbs contained. God forbid we have rogue crumbs that end up on the outside of the cake, marring your beautiful fluffy white frosting.
I decorated with nonpareils (round sprinkles) on the first cake and then these cute fondant cutouts on the second – which were quite a bit of work to color separately, roll and cut, and then dry on a curved surface so they fit the curve of the cake. Whew! I am tired just explaining all of that. I would recommend sticking with sprinkles as it gives you an idea of what is inside.
Funfetti Cake!
Yield: 2 8in cakes
Ingredients
8 oz unsalted butter, at room temp
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
1¼ cups buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2½ cups cake flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbl baking powder
⅔ cup sprinkles
Icing ingredients
1 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
2 lb confectioner’s sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease pans and line with parchment paper.
Cream the butter with the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, on medium speed for 3 minutes. In those 3 minutes, whisk* together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder and mix the vanilla into the buttermilk. Set both of these aside.
With the mixer on medium speed, slowly add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and return speed to medium.
Add the eggs, one at a time, allowing each to fully incorporate before adding the next (about 1 minute in between each egg). Scrape down the sides.
With the mixer on low, alternate the flour and buttermilk in 3-4 additions and mixing until just incorporated.
Mix in sprinkles.
Pour batter into prepared cake pans. To release air pockets, lift each cake a few inches off the counter then allow it to drop (making sure it hits evenly and with a loud bang), repeat 3-4 times. Bake for 45-60 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.
Make Icing: beat butter about 2 minutes (until it coats the sides of the bowl). With mixer on lowest speed, slowly add the confectioner’s sugar, pinch of salt, and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed for 6-8 minutes until super fluffy. Keep covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.
Crumb coat: ice cake layers with a very thin coating of icing then refrigerate the cakes for 15 minutes to let icing harden slightly.
Ice cakes and decorate!
3.2.2925
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